Promises
by AlreadyPerfectPotts
Summary: Pepper is hospitalized during a battle against an alien species, and Tony has a hard time coping with what happened. Tony soon has to face a deeper truth about himself, and a new reality regarding his relationship with Pepper, all while fending off a new enemy with the help of the Avengers team. Lots of Pepperony and some Clintasha.
1. Panic and Heartache

There were a lot of things that could have been distracting – doctors dressed in long, white lab coats bustling about; bright lights; the sounds of murmuring people. But Tony didn't even notice any of it. His mind was zeroed in on one thing, and one thing only: Pepper. She was the reason it was so impossibly agonizing to put one foot in front of the other, yet at the same time she was the motivation that was propelling him forward. The conflicting feelings of relinquishment and determination exhausted him and made him feel like just collapsing right where he stood. It was almost too much for him to bear.

At one point as he was sprinting through the too-white halls of the hospital, Tony nearly knocked over a little kid and a nurse.

"Sir, you need to slow down!" the nurse called after him. Tony barely even heard her – all he could think about was the fact that his Pepper might be dying. This realization sent a ripping pain through his chest, entirely different from the constant discomfort his arc reactor brought him.

Tony bounded up a lengthy set of stairs two at a time, not having the patience to wait for an elevator, and ran down another hallway. He could see Bruce, Natasha, and Steve conversing in hushed voices outside of what must have been Pepper's room. Natasha was the first to notice him coming. She stopped talking and looked up, her stance suddenly tense. Steve too assumed a braced posture. Bruce was the only one who seemed more nervous and less willing to appear assertive.

"Stark –" Steve started, but Tony strode up to him vehemently, grabbed a fistful of his shirt, and slammed him against the wall. Bruce jumped in alarm.

"What the _hell_ happened?!" Tony screamed, his face just inches from Steve's. The soldier's eyes were wide with surprise. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Natasha make a reflexive move in his direction, no doubt about to use her freakishly unnatural strength and skill to throw him halfway down the hall.

"Easy," Bruce said in a warning yet calm tone, speaking more to Tony than to Natasha. Tony hesitated for a second before releasing his grip on Steve, shoving him a little bit as he did so. The fabric of Steve's shirt was scrunched up, but he didn't care to smooth it out. He only stared at Tony. The flash of shock had quickly vanished, and his expression was now hard-set and cold – a blatant contrast to Tony's blazing eyes.

Tony turned towards Bruce. His mind was racing as he recalled the events that had occurred just minutes ago. The first thing he remembered was the five of them – Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Pepper, and himself – sitting at a little café in Los Angeles, discussing matters regarding SHIELD. The next thing he remembered was them receiving an urgent message from Director Fury that an unexpected army of aliens were headed straight for the city. Tony had suited up and yelled at the others to stay back and protect Pepper, which had made Bruce freeze mid-transformation. He'd then sped off to handle the situation, fighting a short but intense battle as the city was attacked. The next thing he knew, as he was examining the aftermath of the fight, Tony had received a call from Steve saying that Pepper was in the hospital. That's when his world froze and was violently wrenched upside-down.

"Explain," Tony demanded. His face twisted with rage and trepidation.

"We did all that we could," Bruce said cautiously. His voice was low and unwavering, his eyes were begging for forgiveness. "We were running for cover when one of the aliens directly targeted her. Rogers and Romanoff tried to hold them off while I let... the other guy... take over to fight them, but –"

Tony interrupted him, deciding he did not want to hear anyone's stupid excuses. "Is she going to be okay?" He was struggling to keep his voice steady.

There was an excruciating silence that seemed to drag out forever. No one answered him. In that moment, someone could have cut the tension with a knife.

"Tell. Me. _Now_." Each word was sharp, and accented with increasing hysteria as fear began to overwhelm him.

"We don't know," Natasha finally replied quietly.

Tony's heart both dropped in desolation and flamed in anger. Pepper might not make it. And it was _their _fault.

Natasha was staring down at the ground when she said this, and this for some reason infuriated Tony. He wanted her to look him in the eye and speak directly to him. Was she too weak to say it to his face? Was she too scared to even glance at him, because she knew she was to blame for Pepper's pain, and for his? Was she really going to shy away from the guilt? How could an agent like her take on anything that was thrown at her, but then lack strength to confront responsibility like this head-on?

"She underwent surgery in the emergency room and then was transferred here. From what we know, her conditions are pretty rough."

Tony's hands tightened into fists. "How could you let this happen?" he growled through clenched teeth.

Before anyone could respond or even react to his accusation, the door to Pepper's room opened. A short, balding doctor stood in the threshold clutching a clipboard. "You are free to see her now," he told them, pushing his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose. "She's still sleeping – the drugs from her surgery haven't quite worn off yet, and she needs lots of rest in order to heal – but you're welcome to come in. Just be sure not to disturb anything." With that, he slipped past the group of superheroes and walked away, his footsteps becoming less and less audible every second.

Everyone lingered behind to let Tony go in first. A pang that was unlike the previous ache seized his chest as he laid his eyes on Pepper. His breath caught, and his heart faltered. At first glance, she did not look too badly hurt. But when Tony got a closer look, he recognized the extent of her injuries and realized the suffering that she had endured. Her face was pale and scratched up, and he could see the pain etched into her features. There was a gash that started at the tip of her collarbone and continued until it disappeared underneath her hospital gown. Her wrist was in a splint, and Tony could just make out the bandages that were wrapped around her stomach. Attached to her were an IV and a heart monitor.

"Pepper," he whimpered, unable to form coherent thoughts.

Tony didn't realize the others were standing beside him until Natasha spoke. He flinched involuntarily at the sound. Natasha's voice was soft and sincere, but not betraying any traces of sadness or worry. She'd been trained not to give away emotions, and to never appear vulnerable. Again, Tony was for some reason irritated by her.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

Suddenly Tony's head hurt, and his body was weak and shaky. He didn't know what to feel anymore. The adrenaline, the anger, the guilt, the fear, and the sadness had all disappeared and left him completely drained. He stayed there in the room even after everyone else left, kneeling by Pepper's bed and holding her cold hand. The only sound was the steady beeps of the heart monitor. The somewhat irrational fear that it might suddenly falter and become a long, continuous tone made him uneasy; he found himself watching the rise and fall of Pepper's chest to make sure her breathing remained even. He wanted to talk to her, but he didn't know what to say, and she couldn't hear him anyway. So instead he sat in silence.

After about twenty minutes or so, the same doctor came in and told Tony that he had to leave. Tony wanted to stay, to be there when she woke up. Normally he would have flat-out refused to obey the order, but right now he didn't have any fight left in him. The doctor suggested he go home and rest, but Tony ignored him. He didn't even go to find somewhere comfortable to sit in the hospital; he slid down to his knees against the wall outside her room and waited there until he was allowed back in. There was no way he was leaving her side ever again.


	2. Healing

Even when Pepper finally came home from the hospital a week and a half later, Tony refused to talk to Bruce, Steve, or Natasha. They had each tried to contact him more than once, but he ignored them all. He certainly blamed them for what happened; he had told them to protect Pepper, and they'd failed. She had nearly been killed.

And to make matters worse, he also blamed himself. He shouldn't even have let her come with them to the meeting in the first place. He should have taken greater precautions to make sure she would not be harmed after they received Fury's warning. Surely there was _something_ that he could have done differently that would have changed the outcome.

Tony was contemplating this as he walked upstairs to the bedroom. Pepper was already there, wearing her silk nightgown. He could see the fading yet still-present bruise that covered almost the entire front of her left thigh.

"It feels so good to be back," Pepper said through a relieved sigh as she sank down into the comfortable, familiar bed. Tony saw her wince when she did so; her pain had not completely disappeared yet.

"I'm sure," Tony said in an agreeing tone. He climbed into bed next to her.

Pepper turned to face him and propped herself up on one elbow. She was careful not to put too much weight on her side. Her grin slowly disappeared as she discerned of Tony's less-than-happy expression. "Are you okay?"

Tony nodded, not trusting his voice enough to speak out loud. He tried to smile – after all, he should be happy shouldn't he? Pepper was back. She was going to be okay.

"You don't still feel guilty, do you?" Pepper asked apprehensively.

Tony refused to make eye contact, afraid he would only upset her. He reached out and lightly trailed a finger over the visible part of the scar on her collarbone. That mark would always be there to remind him of that day.

"Please don't blame yourself," she practically pleaded, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "None of it was your fault. None of it was _anyone's_ fault. It just happened." Tony disagreed with that, but he didn't counter her.

Pepper gently caressed his cheek. "And besides, everything is okay. I'm here."

Tony closed his eyes at her touch, putting his hand over hers. Then he felt her lips on his, and suddenly, somehow, everything seemed okay again.

When he opened his eyes again, she was smiling at him tenderly. She scooted closer and rested her head on his chest, sighing tiredly. Tony shifted underneath her to make her more comfortable. He put one arm around her shoulders and draped the other across her body, wanting to be able to encircle her in his love and protection. He would never let anything happen to her ever again. He couldn't stand the thought of losing her.

Tony pressed a lingering kiss to the top of Pepper's head, feeling so lucky to have her there beside him. He would forever cherish every second with her. Every morning he woke up with her next to him, every word exchanged, every smile and every touch, he would never take for granted again.

Tony kissed Pepper again, and he heard her utter one last sentence before she drifted off to sleep:

"I'll always be right here."


	3. An Attempt at Returning to Normal

"JARVIS, recalibrate the shoulder missile launchers. Dum-E, come here, I need you to help me fix this wire in the left hand repulsor. Try not to screw anything up this time."

"Recalibrating shoulder missile launchers, sir. Time until complete: one minute."

Tony had been working in the shop for almost four hours straight now. He had nothing better to do whenever Pepper was at work other than fix up and build Iron Man suits. He was hesitant about letting her go, but she convinced him that she was well enough to work now and claimed Stark Industries would collapse if she didn't show up soon. So he reluctantly agreed.

Dum-E wheeled over and made a small noise at Tony.

"Yeah, I need you to just reach in and attach that wire back there to the plate on the side. No, not that one, you'll short out the whole thing! Careful... okay, that should do it."

Tony fit the repulsor onto his hand to test it, wiggling his fingers until it felt comfortable in his palm. "Alright, here we go. Firing in three, two, one..." Tony fired the repulsor, which shot him backwards and made him crash into the table behind him. "Okay, that wasn't right," he said, his voice coming out strained due to the sharp pain in his back. He slowly pushed himself back to a sitting position and grabbed onto Dum-E to help him stand up. "You are seriously the worst –"

"Maybe I can help?"

Tony jumped at the unexpected voice and turned to see Bruce standing in the doorway of the workshop. "What...? How did you get in here?"

"I asked JARVIS to let me in," Bruce said with a shrug and a small smile.

"Remind me to disable you for being a backstabber, JARVIS," Tony grumbled.

"Hey, don't get mad at JARVIS. I asked him to keep quiet so that you wouldn't kick me out before I could even talk to you." Bruce walked over and leaned against the table, peering at Tony's work. He waved a hand at the repulsor. "Probably your problem isn't the wiring; it looks like the equilibrium is somehow off, which causes the repulsor to have too strong of a converse response, which can easily be overcome by –"

"Redirecting the kinetic energy through a less direct channel to balance out the opposite reaction that results from firing the repulsor," Tony finished for him.

Bruce nodded. "Must have gotten skewed during the Los Angeles battle," he suggested. Tony detected a hint of nervousness in his voice as he mentioned the battle.

"Right," Tony said shortly. He turned his attention back to his suit.

Bruce took a deep breath. "About that day... I just... we never meant for anyone to get hurt, and we're all really sorry. It happened so fast... we want to know if there is anything we can do to earn your forgiveness."

Tony frowned. "'_We'_?"

Before he could say anything else, Natasha and Steve appeared at the workshop door. JARVIS unlocked the door for them.

"JARVIS," Tony protested.

"My apologies, sir," the AI responded, "but I think it would be best if this conflict was resolved."

Tony resisted rolling his eyes. "Fine."

Natasha strolled in, with Steve lagging behind her. "Hey, Stark," she said casually. Tony narrowed his eyes at her. "You're not still upset, are you?"

"What Natasha means to say," Steve interjected before Tony could spit out an angry reply, "is that we are hoping you and Pepper are both doing well, and we are genuinely sorry for what happened to her." Steve stopped walking in front of Tony and put his hands in his jean pockets. "You wouldn't answer our calls, so we thought we'd come down here. Can we talk?"

"I don't have anything to say, but sure, knock yourself out," Tony replied, turning back to his repulsor and working at it with a screwdriver.

Natasha huffed and walked around the table to face him. "Look, if you won't talk to us, fine. But we just want you to know that we are all sorry, and I wish we could forgive and forget and put this whole thing behind us."

"She could have died!" Tony yelled, slamming his screwdriver onto the table. There was a silence, and Tony's stance relaxed. "I almost lost her," he said, and suddenly he felt like he was on the verge of tears.

Steve spoke up softly. "I know how it feels to lose the one you love. All of us have endured difficult experiences. You of all people should know what it is like to face an impossible situation and overcome it."

"There's something else bothering you," Natasha said. "What is it?"

There was another pause before Tony said, "I'm not good enough. I can't protect her; I can't always be there for her. I don't deserve her."

"Tony..." Bruce wanted to reach out and comfort his friend, but before he could, JARVIS interrupted them.

"I'm sorry to disrupt your conversation, sir, but it appears as though we have a problem."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for my complete lack of knowledge when it comes to science. Reviews are appreciated!**


	4. Strange Occurrence

**A/N: Sorry it took me a while to update. Thanks to everyone who followed/favorited/left reviews!**

* * *

_"I'm sorry to disrupt your conversation, sir, but it appears as though we have a problem."_

Not two seconds after JARVIS's warning, the Mark X started to tremble, and a loud noise was emitting from it.

Natasha gasped. "Tony, the suit!"

"Get down!" Tony yelled before diving behind one of the cars in his garage. Steve, Natasha, and Bruce all followed him. Bruce crashed into Tony, whose head hit the side of the car, and suddenly there was an explosion. Tony flung his arm over his face to keep debris from hurting him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see pieces of the Iron Man suit flying in every direction.

All four of them stayed frozen in place for a few moments before slowly standing back up. "Is everyone alright?" Bruce muttered.

"What... what just happened?" Steve panted, leaning against Tony's car.

Tony groaned, putting a hand to the back of his sore head. "I have no idea. Nothing like that has ever happened before. JARVIS?"

"I'm not quite sure what went wrong, sir. I'm looking into it now."

Tony scanned the room. There wasn't too much damage, save for a shattered windshield in one of his Audis and a computer lying face-down on the floor, but where Mark X once stood was now an empty space. Tony frowned in confusion.

"Maybe we should get out of here," Natasha suggested. "Just in case."

"Right."

They all headed back up the stairs and emerged into one of the living rooms of the mansion. Natasha took a seat next to Steve on the white couch that faced the television. Tony plopped into the recliner to their right, and Bruce perched on the arm of the sofa.

"That was certainly... unexpected," Bruce said, breaking the silence. "What do you think could've caused that?"

"JARVIS will figure it out. I'm sure it's not a serious issue," Tony said, mostly trying to convince himself. "You want me to get you anything?" he asked them. "I have leftover pizza in the fridge."

"No, thank you," Natasha answered.

"Suit yourself." Tony walked into the kitchen and came back with a cold slice of pepperoni pizza, which he shoved in his mouth. He stopped when he noticed all three of them staring at him. "What?"

"You know we're here for you if you want to talk."

Tony crossed his arms and sat back down. "I'm fine."

Natasha shrugged. "Suit yourself." Tony shot her a look at her imitating him.

"We actually had something else to talk to you about," Steve started. He looked to Natasha, who nodded at him to continue. "The Los Angeles city council wants to hold a celebration for us on the tenth as a thank-you for our saving the city. They've... humbly requested our attendance."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Do I have to?" he complained through a mouthful of pizza. "These types of things are so boring. All we do is stand in front of an audience, get bombarded by annoying questions from annoying reporters, receive a medal or something, and then leave."

"They're throwing us a party afterwards," Bruce piped up.

Tony finished off the rest of his pizza. "I'd rather just stay here with Pepper." In fact, he refused to go anywhere without her, and he sure as hell wasn't going back to Los Angeles any time soon. He wasn't planning on going _anywhere_ any time soon, for that matter. Not after what happened.

Natasha walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to worry about Pepper, if that's what is troubling you. Everything will be okay."

Tony swatted her hand off of him. "You don't know that."

Didn't they understand? Anything could happen at any time. That's what came with being a 'superhero.' Just like that explosion downstairs; one moment things could be fine, and then the next he could be under attack. Pepper deserved to be safe, to have someone she could count on. Honestly, Tony wasn't sure if he was that person. Images of Pepper lying in the hospital bed flashed across Tony's mind, and he involuntarily cringed. He couldn't live with himself if she was injured again because of him.

"I love her too much... I almost lost her once. If anything ever happened to her again..." Tony internally cursed himself for showing this vulnerable side of him to the others. He was Iron Man; he wasn't supposed to be afraid of anything. Being scared of something was a sign of weakness, and he couldn't let himself be seen that way. Not by anyone.

Tony sighed, trying to hide his sudden irritation, and decided to just give them an answer that would hopefully satisfy them, at least for a little while. "I'll think about it, okay?"


	5. Gifts

Tony kept glancing at the clock, no matter how hard he tried not to. _'__Just a few more minutes until it was 5:30_._ Pepper should be home any minute now.'_

He felt like a little puppy, just waiting for its family to come home, but he couldn't help himself. He always missed Pepper's company when she was at work. He'd had a long day; all he wanted right now was to hold her and relax with her.

Tony glanced down at the box he was holding. He had been bored after Natasha, Steve, and Bruce left; he thought it was best to avoid the Iron Man suits until JARVIS figured out what went wrong with Mark X. So he'd hopped in his newest sports car and sped down the road. It was ten minutes later before he had realized he didn't really have a destination in mind. Tony found himself at a small local market, where there were about fifteen booths set up. Cheery-looking people were standing at the different stations, selling whatever homemade items they had in front of them.

One of the vendors had caught his attention, and Tony wandered over to his booth. An array of necklaces, earrings, and bracelets were displayed on the table. "These look nice," Tony commented.

"Each one is hand-crafted," the man said proudly. "You looking for anything specific?"

"Um, no, not really," Tony said, slightly absentmindedly. He picked up a silver necklace that was intricately designed and had a heart charm hanging at the end of it. Immediately he thought of Pepper. _'She'd like this, I bet_,_'_ he thought. Tony had never been a good gift-giver; he was used to receiving well-thought-out gifts, not giving them. But he had a feeling that this was perfect for Pepper.

The vendor saw Tony's interest in the piece. "That one's my personal favorite. Took me almost three months to perfect. Costs a hundred and fifty dollars, if you're interested."

Tony thought for a second before saying, "I'll take it." Tony pulled out a five-hundred dollar bill and handed it to the man. "Keep the change."

"Wow! Thanks!" The vendor started to package the necklace. "Hey," he suddenly said as he handed the box to Tony, "aren't you Iron Man?"

Tony forced a smile, which probably looked more like a grimace. "No, you must be mistaken." He muttered a thank-you to the man before turning and walking away. When Tony had gotten back home, he rummaged around for a bigger box put the necklace in, to make the gift more of a surprise for Pepper. He couldn't wait to give it to her – hopefully she wouldn't hate it.

The sound of a key in the front door alerted Tony that Pepper was finally here, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Honey, I'm home," she called as she stepped inside. Her high heels made staccato clicks on the hardwood floor, which echoed in the tall-ceilinged foyer until she reached the living room, where Tony was lounged on the couch in front of the muted TV.

"Hey, Pep," Tony said with a wide grin. He stood up and walked over to greet her.

"Hi, Tony." Pepper gave a tired smile.

"I went out and got you a little something," Tony said, lifting up the box.

"Really? What is it?" Pepper said curiously and a little warily.

"Chocolate-covered strawberries."

Pepper pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him. "Seriously?"

Tony laughed. "No. I know you're allergic to strawberries; I wouldn't make that mistake twice," he muttered. He put the box on the table to free up his hands, which he placed on her shoulders.

"Yeah, you better not," Pepper said with a smile. Tony leaned down to kiss her, and she met him half way.

"How are you?" Tony murmured, tucking a strand of Pepper's strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear.

"Exhausted," Pepper admitted. "I really feel like I need a nice long nap."

"Oh, no. I won't allow that," Tony said.

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"Because I've missed you too much. How can I talk to you if you're asleep?"

Pepper felt herself blush a little. "Tony, I was gone at work for a few hours. Like usual. You should be used to having the house to yourself on the weekdays."

"Yeah, well, I still don't like it when you're gone." Tony rubbed his thumbs over her shoulders. "Wanna open your present?" he asked, nodding his head at the box on the table. He was still playing with her hair, letting it slide through his fingers. Pepper nodded. Tony picked up the box and offered it to her.

Pepper lifted the lid of the box, and her brow furrowed. "Tony? This is a box inside another box."

"Yup."

Pepper picked up the smaller one, and her eyes grew a little bigger. "Is this...?"

"Just open it," Tony urged eagerly.

Pepper obeyed, and she put a hand to her mouth upon seeing the gift. "Oh, Tony."

"You like it?"

"It's beautiful. Thank you, baby." She hugged him.

"Here, let me put it on you," Tony offered. Pepper gathered her hair so it was out of the way, and Tony stepped behind her and reached around to hook the necklace at the back of her neck. "Perfect," he said. He pressed a kiss to her cheek, and then another to her jaw. Pepper turned in his arms and met her lips with his, putting a hand at the back of his head and curling her fingers through his hair.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," Tony murmured against her mouth. He led them over to the couch without breaking contact with her and kissed her more deeply. Pepper sighed audibly as Tony trapped her lower lip between his teeth and slid his tongue along it, and a fire ignited in the pit of her stomach at his touch.

"You haven't told me about your day yet," Pepper remarked a bit breathlessly once they finally broke for air. Tony's lips were now exploring her neck, and Pepper bit her tongue to stifle a moan of pleasure. He stopped and looked up at her when she spoke.

"I just tinkered with the suits some more," Tony said nonchalantly, his hands still resting on her hips. "Oh yeah, Banner, Rogers, and Romanoff came over." It was probably best to avoid mentioning the incident with Mark X suit. He didn't want Pepper to start worrying about something that was probably nothing, so he didn't say anything about it.

"They did? I'm guessing this means everything is okay between you guys now?"

Tony shrugged, not really answering the question. "Rogers mentioned a celebration in Los Angeles for defeating those alien things, but I don't think I'm going to go." He held his breath, hoping Pepper would agree with him.

Pepper cocked her head at him. "What? Why not?"

"Pepper, you know how those things are. It's just a way for reporters to squeeze out information and news stations to boost ratings. I've had my fill of boring press conferences."

"This'll be different," Pepper assured him. "It'll be good for you; you haven't gone out to do a public event in a while."

Tony pouted. "I'd rather spend time with you."

Pepper touched his cheek. "You're worried about me," she said softly. It wasn't phrased as a question; Pepper could clearly tell how Tony felt. She had always been able to decipher his thoughts and read into his feelings. It was like she had access to a part of Tony that only she could unlock. The walls that Tony had built up to shield his emotions crumbled when it came to Pepper.

"I think you should go."

"But –"

"I'll be fine, Tony. I promise." Pepper rested her hand on top of his reassuringly. "Besides, don't you love basking in the praise of your fans? The whole day will be all about _you_. Don't tell me you won't enjoy that."

Tony smirked, and Pepper chuckled at his expression.

"I think I'm going to go take a shower now," Pepper said, standing up from the couch. She gave Tony a wink, who quickly took the hint.

"Right behind you," he said. Tony scooped Pepper up, who squeaked in surprise, and carefully carried her up the stairs. "JARVIS, turn on the shower in the master bathroom."

"As you wish, sir."

A second later they could hear the running water. They crossed through their bedroom and stood at the threshold of the bathroom.

"You can put me down now, Tony," Pepper said, squirming playfully in his arms.

Tony shook his head defiantly. "Don't want to," he replied, and he carried her off into the steam.


	6. Nightmare

_Tony saw Pepper walking around in her office at Stark Industries, making phone calls and signing papers and taking care of business meetings. She looked as though she was tired but trying not to show it. He wished he could bring her a cup of coffee and hug her and make her smile._

_ Then he saw someone walk in the door, and it took him just a second to recognize the person as himself. Only this Tony Stark was somehow different from him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it... He saw Pepper glance up when this 'other Tony_'_ walked into the room, and her face changed to wear an expression he had never seen on her before: raw terror._

_ Just then, the Tony in the dream began to change. He grew taller, his features stretching out and getting larger. His skin darkened as if dirty. His eyes turned red, and they shone with a horrifying look that could only be described as malice._

_ The monster-like Tony slowly approached Pepper, his presence daunting and ghostlike, the air around him turning cold and the light turning dim. A twisted grin appeared on his face, revealing sharp teeth. Suddenly an Iron Man suit crashed into the building, shattering the window behind Pepper, and formed itself around the dream-Tony's body. Without so much as a single word, Tony lifted his arm, aiming his repulsor straight at Pepper's chest._

_ Pepper screamed. _

_ The monster fired._

Tony jolted awake, gasping and covered in cold sweat. He was trembling uncontrollably, and his heart was beating so fast and hard he was surprised it didn't jump out of his chest.

Pepper stirred beside him. "Tony?" she groaned drowsily.

Tony immediately turned to face her, burying his head in the crook of her neck. "Pepper," was all he could manage to say as tears threatened to spill out of his eyes.

"Shh, it's okay Tony, it was just a dream, I'm here, it's okay," Pepper lulled. She sat up and cradled Tony in her lap, softly combing her fingers through his hair. Tony's shoulders shook as if he were holding back sobs. "You want to talk about it?" she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his temple.

Suddenly the image of him firing the repulsor at Pepper flashed across Tony's mind. He shuddered and jerked away from her, moving into the bathroom. He leaned against the counter and stared at his reflection in the mirror. There were no pointy teeth or evil red eyes. The image in the mirror was _him_. Just a shaken-up, tired, sweaty version of him. The monster was not showing itself.

"Tony," came Pepper's voice. She followed him into the bathroom and lifted a finger to his chin, gently turning his head to face her. "What happened? In your dream?" When Tony didn't answer, she added, "Talking about it might help you recover from it more easily."

A silence filled the room before Tony answered. He turned his head back to the mirror; he didn't think he would be able to say it right to her face. "I hurt you, Pepper," he said, his voice coming out surprisingly even and calm. "I was a monster and I hurt you on purpose. No, I didn't just hurt you; I killed you."

Pepper didn't let herself react. She didn't want to hurt Tony any more, and a reaction to his dream might just make him break.

Tony swallowed. He could tell Pepper was waiting for him to say more, to talk it over with her, but he couldn't and didn't want to. He was scared of revealing some sort of truth. Scared of admitting that the nightmare was real; she would never be safe with him as long as he was Iron Man. _He_ was the one putting her in harm's way; he made plenty of enemies as a 'superhero', so it was dangerous for anyone to be near him. Yet, at the same time, he felt that he needed to protect her, to always be beside her and to never let her go. He thought he could keep her away from danger. But recently he was beginning to think that maybe he couldn't be the one to provide that protection for her._  
_

Unable to say any of that to Pepper, Tony turned and brushed past her, but stopped when he felt her grasp his wrist. Pepper wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a strong yet comforting embrace. Tony let her warmth surround him and realized all he wanted right now was to be close to her. So he gave in to the embrace, leaning into her and hugging her back.

They both stayed there in each other's arms, neither of them saying a word, as the first hints of daylight began to seep into the sky.


	7. For the Heroes

The sun beat down on the city, practically baking everything it touched. Only a few puffs of cloud floated lazily across the sky, and there was not even a hint of a breeze. Despite the record heat, however, there were over a hundred people crowded outside in the plaza to witness Tony, Bruce, Steve, and Natasha receive awards.

That is, if none of them passed out from the stifling heat first.

Right now the mayor of Los Angeles, a short, plump man who had a surprisingly squeaky voice, was at center stage. He was babbling on and on about the greatness of the city and the importance of people like the Avengers. Tony groaned, wishing so much that he was back in Malibu sitting by his enormous pool and sipping a cold drink. It was so hot he couldn't focus. Beside him, Bruce was waving his hand in front of his face in attempt to cool down.

"And now, in return for your valiant efforts and unwavering bravery, and as thanks for defending our citizens, the city of Los Angeles would like to present each of you with these special medals of honor."

The mayor's assistant came around to Tony and placed a medal around his neck. She smiled and said "Thank you" before moving on to Steve, who was on Tony's left. Once all four of them had received their medals, the mayor said, "The press conference will commence shortly in the grand hall. Thank you, everyone, for coming. And thank you to our heroes!"

The crowd cheered, and Tony muttered "finally," as the ceremony ended. He and the others followed the mayor off the stage, through the plaza, and a cross the street into the huge building where the mayor and his council worked.

All of them sighed in relief as they stepped into the air-conditioned building. They walked through the grand entrance hall, and their footsteps echoed off the marble floor and walls of the enormous room. The hall was lit by the domed glass ceiling.

Tony was walking between Steve and Natasha, with Bruce on Steve's left. Steve must have noticed Tony's unhappy expression, because he suggested, "Hey, it could've been worse."

"One more minute in that heat and I think I would have fainted," Natasha said indignantly. She took her hair down from her ponytail and shook it out with her hand. "Now let's get this press conference over with."

They turned down a hallway and into a big, open room. Chairs were set up for the press, facing the long table that was situated in the back of the room. There was a window to the left, and on the right were paintings of the current mayor and council members. Tony followed the others into their seats at the table, which were marked with fancy-looking nametags.

The press began to file in, and they immediately got started once they got settled.

Tony had to consciously force himself not to zone out. Most of the time his mind wandered to Pepper, which was beginning to become a problem as more and more people directed questions at him.

"Mr. Stark, there is a rumor going around that you are going to move from California to New Mexico in order to be closer in proximity to SHIELD's main headquarters. Is this true?"

Tony blinked a few times as he processed the question. _The heat must have really messed with my head_, he thought. He cleared his throat. "No, that's not true. I plan on staying in Malibu and only getting involved with SHIELD when absolutely necessary."

"Does this mean you are making a transition away from SHIELD?"

"Are you going to leave the Avengers team?"

"What are you plans for the future?"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Tony said, "After the incident that happened here, I think it would be best for me to take it easy and spend more time with Ms. Potts."

"So you would rather give up being a superhero than continue your efforts to keep the citizens of the world safe?"

Tony was starting to regret that last response. "Ms. Potts was seriously injured during the last battle, and I am uncomfortable putting the lives of the people I care about at risk. However, I have no intentions of leaving SHIELD or the Avengers team permanently any time soon. I am still committed to being Iron Man for the time being."

"What should we expect to see from Stark Industries in the near future?"

"Look, I don't run the business anymore, ask the CEO."

Bruce, who was seated next to them, glanced over at him. He leaned away from his microphone to whisper to Tony. "You're dating the CEO," he said with a smirk.

"That doesn't mean she tells me everything about the company," Tony returned the smirk sarcastically. Bruce chuckled to himself and turned his attention back to the press conference, and Tony did the same.

"Mr. Stark, I've heard that you are planning to marry Ms. Potts. Is this true?"

Tony found himself smiling for the first time since he got to Los Angeles. "That is possible... Well, its sort of complicated. But that's not really anyone's business so never mind."

"Is it difficult for you to work with a team, Mr. Stark?"

"Um, sometimes..."

Finally some people started to ask Bruce and Natasha and Steve questions, and Tony welcomed the break. He wasn't sure how much longer he could put up with all of these questions.

Just another forty-five minutes until it was all over.

* * *

**A/N: I promise it gets interesting really soon! Thoughts? :)**


	8. The Party

"Hey, Pepper. I just wanted to call and see how you were doing. It's been a long day... right now we're all at our celebration party thing. There's a ton of people. I wish you were here. Anyway, I'll talk to you later. I love you." Tony hung up the phone, trying not to be too disappointed that his call had gone to voicemail. He was hoping to hear Pepper's voice.

"Why aren't you out there having fun, Stark?" Tony looked up to see Natasha approaching him. "People want to talk to you."

Tony shrugged.

"By the way, did you ever figure out what happened to the Mark X?" she inquired, lowering her voice a little.

"JARVIS couldn't find anything. He said it must have been a malfunction resulting from it being beat up during the LA battle."

"And why do you feel the need to carry that along with you?" Natasha crossed her arms. She was looking pointedly at the Iron Man suit that Tony had brought. Right now it was folded compactly into a pocket-sized unit, but in case he needed it, it could unfold at a moment's notice.

"You can't be too careful," Tony said, shoving the unit back into his jacket pocket.

After a moment he walked back out into the crowd of people, heading straight for the bar. "Gimme a Scotch."

The bartender gave a nod and turned to prepare his drink. Tony leaned on the counter on one elbow and surveyed the crowd. A lot of people were dancing, but some were just standing and chatting or sitting at one of the tables that were positioned at the edges of the room. Steve was awkwardly standing against a wall, just watching people. Natasha was talking with a group of people, and Bruce was sitting at a table looking slightly uncomfortable as he conversed with a few people around him.

"Tony Stark?"

Tony turned around and found himself face to face with a young, fair-skinned woman. She had big, chocolate-brown eyes and wavy brown hair that hung to the middle of her back. She was wearing a red, low-cut dress and quite a bit of makeup. She looked extremely happy to have run into him.

"I'm Margaret Evans. I've heard so much about you!" she exclaimed perkily. Tony gave her a polite smile.

"Oh, wow," she suddenly said. "Is that the famous arc reactor?"

Tony glanced down at his chest. The reactor's blue glow was slightly visible through his red button-down shirt. "Yeah, that's the one."

Margaret smiled at him. "You wouldn't mind if I touched it, would you?" Her hand extended to move his tie out of the way.

"Actually, I would mind," Tony said, catching her wrist in his hand and moving it away from him.

The woman pouted at him, sticking her lip out and glancing at him through her lashes. "That's too bad. I was hoping I would get to see it up close personally."

Tony drained the last of his Scotch and set the glass down on the counter, making a clanking sound.

"Well if you won't let me see the arc reactor, the least you can do is dance with me," Margaret said. She took his hand and tried to pull him in the direction of the dance floor. "Come on, it'll be fun," she coaxed.

She'd definitely cornered him into that one. _Fine, it's just a harmless dance, _Tony convinced himself, and he stood up and led them into the middle of the throng of dancers. A semi-slow song was playing. Margaret placed her hands on his shoulders and Tony lightly touched her waist as they stepped gracefully in time with the music.

"You're a good dancer," she remarked.

"I know."

Tony guided them further into the middle of the dance floor, twirling her once as the song ended. Another song started, and they began to dance to that one too.

"How did I get so lucky?"

"What do you mean?" Tony prompted, but he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"I'm here dancing with the great Tony Stark. I'd consider that quite an amazing thing. Lots of people would love to be me right now."

The last notes of the song played out, and Tony released his grip on Margaret's waist. "Do you want to go get some air?" Margaret asked. She glanced sideways to the balcony on their left.

"Yeah, alright."

They moved their way through the crowd and made it outside, both going to lean against the railing of the balcony. It was a clear night, and the air was now crisp and cool rather than sweltering hot. A full moon illuminated the sky, and many bright stars were visible. Tony was turned to face outwards, looking out into the city, but he could tell that Margaret's eyes were on him.

"You know, I may not know a whole lot about you, Tony Stark," Margaret started, stepping towards him, "but you seem like a truly remarkable person."

Tony swallowed hard, starting to feel uneasy with her closeness. "You seem like a wonderful person as well," he returned the compliment.

She took another step towards him, and Tony leaned back a little.

"What? Am I making you uncomfortable?" she said slyly. She sidled even closer, hanging onto his arm. Tony tried to stammer out a reply, but even he didn't know what he was saying. He was frozen in place as Margaret slid a hand over his chest, circling her thumb around the edge of the arc reactor through his shirt. Tony squirmed at her touch. "Is it because of that Pepper girl?" She grinned and brought her lips close to his ear. "Forget about her," she whispered, her voice dripping with seduction. "She doesn't matter."

Tony hissed and yanked away. How dare she say that?

"Oh, come on, Tony. You can afford to let go, loosen up a little. Doesn't a part of you wish you were unattached like you used to be, free to do whatever you wanted with whomever you wanted? Well, tonight you can have that."

Suddenly her mouth was just inches away from his. Tony couldn't breathe. Every cell within him was screaming to push her away and leave, but he felt like he was stuck and couldn't move.

It was the feel of her lips on his that finally made him snap out of it. "Stop that!"

Tony jumped back and then angrily marched inside, his heart pounding.

"Tony, wait!"

Margaret followed behind him and reached for his arm. Tony wheeled around to shake her off of him, and as he did so the portable Iron Man unit flew out of his pocket and skidded across the floor.

Tony heard a few people near the suit murmur, "What was that?" before suddenly there was a familiar beeping noise.

_Oh, no_.

Tony lunged towards the suit, but before he could reach it there was a huge blast. Tony, along with about ten other people near him, was thrown backwards from the explosion. Tony flew into the bar from the side and hit the floor hard, and he heard his wrist crack from the impact.

The entire room was chaos. Everyone was screaming and running, dropping their drinking glasses and knocking over chairs. One outlier was demanding that people stay calm, but his voice was drowned out by everyone else's panic.

Tony ignored the searing pain in his left wrist and the burning sensation along his side and forced his muscles to move. He stood up and stumbled into the center of the room, heading for the front doors, until suddenly he felt someone wrench his arms behind him and shove him to the ground. Tony yelled out and struggled under the person's weight, but it wasn't much use.

From where he was he could see Natasha grabbing the arm of a masked man and effortlessly flipping him over her head, then immediately whipping around to trip another man with a slide of her legs.

Just as Tony swung at the person holding him down and scrambled to his feet, there was a blunt blow to his head, and he fell unconscious.


	9. Trapped

"Stark? Can you hear me? I really need you to wake up, okay? You need to wake up and we can find a way out of this."

Tony moaned as he regained awareness and focused on assessing his physical damages before opening his eyes. _Broken wrist, cracked ribs, probably second-degree burns, pounding headache, busted lip._ Not good, but he'd been worse.

Slowly, Tony opened his eyes and squinted in the dim lighting. From what he could tell, he was in a large room with no windows, and his arms were tied to a pole above his head (which was definitely not helping the pain in his wrist). Natasha was tied up to his right, and she was the one trying to talk him into waking up. Tony thought he could hear Steve's labored breathing to his left, but his head hurt too badly to even turn to check. The rest of the room appeared empty, for now.

"Tony? Say something if you can hear me."

"I can hear you," Tony answered, his voice coming out strained.

"Good. Alright, here's what we know so far," Natasha started. "At the party, your Iron Man suit exploded. About fifteen masked people attacked us and brought us here. Bruce is missing, and we're not sure what happened to the other people who were there at the party."

Tony groaned. This was all his fault, wasn't it? The exploding suit was not an accident after all. He should have investigated further into it to find out what really happened.

Natasha continued. "We don't have our cell phones, but before they took me down I managed to alert SHIELD, so at least there will be people looking for us."

"How in the world are they going to find us?" Steve spoke up. "Even _we_ have no clue where we are. For all we know, we could be halfway around the world. We have to get out of here, now." In a fit of panic and rage, Steve started yanking on the ties that were holding him in place. But even he wasn't strong enough to free himself.

"We weren't unconscious for that long," Natasha retorted. "Don't start freaking out on me. We need to stay calm and focus in order to figure a way out of here. If we can just get out of these ties, I'm sure we can take on anyone whoever comes at us."

Just then the door across the room opened, and Natasha fell silent. Three men and one woman, all looking no older than twenty-five, walked in.

"I see you're all awake," the tallest of the four said as he approached them. "I hope you had a nice rest."

Tony glared at him. "Oh, yeah, it was super comfortable," he spat.

"Tony," Steve mumbled in a warning tone.

The boy gave a hollow laugh. "I would try to avoid getting yourself in any more trouble, if I were you," he jeered.

"What do you want?" Natasha demanded coldly.

"I'll get to that in a minute." He sauntered up to her, taking her face in his hand. "You, Natalia Romanova, were harder to overpower than I'd expected. I certainly underestimated you."

Natasha jerked her head away. Tony could see her eyes light with anger when the boy used her given name.

"You know you're never going to get away with whatever you're doing, right?" Tony threatened in a mockingly confident tone.

The youngest-looking boy of the group sneered at him. "And _you_ know that none of this would have been possible without you?" He laughed as Tony's expression changed to confusion and then resentment. "We were able to hack into your AI and gain access to your Iron Man suits without anything seeming out of the ordinary. Of course, we did have a little slip-up that almost gave us away, but luckily you didn't quite catch on."

"How...?" Tony breathed. How could a bunch of kids hack into his systems without him even knowing? He had so much protection against hackers and viruses...

"It's not important how we did it," the woman said, placing a hand on her hip and flipped her blonde hair behind her shoulder. "What's important is that you do exactly as we say."

"And why the hell would we do that?"

The first boy turned his livid glower to Tony. "_Why_?" he repeated through a hiss. He swiftly marched up to him. "Because if you don't," – he reached up and grabbed a hold of Tony's broken hand – "I will make you wish," – he twisted Tony's wrist hard, and Tony cried out as pain shot through his arm – "that you had never even been born." The boy hit Tony in the face forcefully with the back of his hand. Tony recoiled and suppressed a whimper.

Steve was staring at them wide-eyed, looking absolutely terrified. Natasha had her gaze fixed on the ground. Tony didn't know what these people had in mind for them, but he was doubtful that they were going to be able find a way out of this one without any help.

"Now," the woman said with a cruel smile, "are you all ready to begin?"


	10. Perspectives

_Bruce_

Bruce had never felt comfortable around large groups of strangers. He preferred the solitude of his own house, where he could relax and not worry about having to interact with people. It made him feel pressured and nervous to be a part of a social gathering like that.

Which is why he mainly hung back in the far corner by himself. He was about to go outside to get some air when suddenly there was a blast, and before he could even think he was thrown back into the wall.

Bruce tried to shut out all of the screaming and panic that was going on around him. He tried to take deep breaths, to keep his heart rate at a normal pace, to stop the sweating and shaking. But the Hulk was beginning to surface.

"No," Bruce growled through gritted teeth. "No, I won't let this happen! _You do not control me!_"

Bruce turned and fled out of the building, tearing away from the flood of people who were evacuating the building and running down the street to avoid the chaos. He refused to let the Hulk beat him.

He ran until he forgot why he was running, eventually slowing down to a stop. A few police cars whizzed by him, and suddenly he was reminded of what had just happened.

"I have to go back," he stated out loud. Where were Tony and Natasha and Steve? Were they hurt in the explosion? What was going on? He couldn't just leave them – maybe they needed his help.

When Bruce returned to the building he was told of the masked men and of his friend's kidnapping. The reality of the whole situation sank in then and there and he sank to his knees, fighting back angry screams.

_My friends were taken_.

Bruce regained some control and slowly stood up. There was only one thing he could do now.

He had to find them.

* * *

_Pepper_

Pepper was about to pull out of her parking space at Stark Industries when she realized she had left her phone in her office. She sighed and got back out of her car, walking into the building and taking the elevator to the third floor. She turned down the first hallway and into her office. "There it is," she muttered. She retrieved the phone from her desk and clicked it on, noticing that she had missed a call from Tony.

Pepper listened to the voicemail Tony had left her and smiled. Of course he would be more occupied with trying to contact her than actually enjoying himself at his party. When the voicemail ended she called him back, but he didn't pick up.

_Oh, well. He's probably busy,_ Pepper thought.

She had just gotten home and changed into more comfortable clothes (a pair of sweats and one of Tony's old T-shirts) when her phone rang. She eagerly picked it up, thinking that it was Tony, and was slightly disappointed to see that it wasn't.

Pepper put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hello, may I speak to Ms. Potts?"

"Speaking," she answered.

"This is Agent Coulson from SHIELD."

Pepper's heart stopped. Why would SHIELD need to contact her?

"I recently received an alert from Agent Romanoff. I fear that something may have happened at the party that she was attending. Mr. Stark was also at that party, correct?"

"Yes," Pepper choked.

"Have you spoken to him recently? Has he mentioned anything that seemed out of the ordinary?"

"H-he left me a voicemail at around seven-thirty this evening, and I haven't been able to contact him since then."

"Okay, thank you. We have SHIELD agents trying to locate them as we speak. I'll keep you in touch."

Pepper's throat felt tight from worry. "Okay. Thank you," she managed.

"And, Pepper," Coulson added softly, speaking her name with warmth, "it's going to be alright. I promise."

Pepper nodded even though she knew Coulson couldn't see her. She couldn't bring herself to speak. She lowered the phone from her ear and turned it off, leaning back into the couch and hugging her knees to her chest.

"Please let Tony be okay," she whispered aloud to no one.

She had come close to losing him too many times, and each time it had almost been too much to bear. How much more of this could her heart take before it finally shattered?

* * *

_Coulson_

"Agent Coulson, we just received an alert from Agent Romanoff."

Director Fury was speaking to Coulson through his earpiece.

"What happened? How much do we know?" Coulson questioned.

"Right now, not much. I'm putting Agent Hill and her team in charge of discovering her currrent location. Contact Ms. Potts to see if she can help out."

"Right away."

Coulson called Pepper, and the worry in her voice made him want to reach out and comfort her. Of course, he couldn't do that, and he had to remain calm and professional.

"Romanoff was at the party in Lost Angeles when she sent out the alert," Fury confirmed. "Agent Hill is still working on determining her location. Inform Agent Barton."

"Copy that."

As if on cue, Agent Clint Barton appeared in the room right as Coulson moved to go find him.

"Barton," Coulson said, "I know you just returned from a mission yesterday, but something urgent has come up. We have reason to believe that Romanoff and possibly Stark, Rogers, and Banner are in trouble. We need you on the case."

Clint's jaw locked at the mention of Natasha. He looked at Coulson, his eyes serious, and loaded an arrow into his bow.

"I'm on it."


	11. Exitium

It had been at least twenty-four hours since they had been captured, and the fatigue and hunger were starting to get to Tony. And to make matters worse, the insurmountable pain caused by his injuries was impossible to ignore. Natasha didn't look so good either; she had bruises on her face and arms, and her ankle was swollen. Blood had trickled down from her temple to her jaw and dried there. She was pale, and the dress she had worn to the party was torn up at the bottom. Steve looked to be the least beaten-up of the three of them; all he had to show for the explosion and kidnapping were a few bruises.

Throughout the time they had spent tied up in the room, twelve different people had been in and out. Not one had yet explained what was going on or what the Avengers' fates were. It was making Tony increasingly nervous.

None of them had spoken very much since they woke up. It was probably because they couldn't come up with something positive to say. So they stood in silence, deep in their own thoughts, until suddenly Steve spoke. His voice was crackly from disuse. "What do you think that woman meant when she said 'are you ready to begin?' They haven't done anything to us yet."

"They're breaking us," Natasha said in a matter-of-fact tone. "They're trying to make us deteriorate both mentally and physically before they do anything. That way we'll have already given up without a fight."

"Well, it's working," Tony snarled.

The door then opened, and only one person entered this time. Tony recognized him as the boy who had attacked him during their first few minutes trapped in this room. His heart sped up as anger coursed through his body.

The boy noted Tony's hatred and chuckled to himself as he advanced towards them. "Alright, you've all been standing here long enough. I'm going to tell you what's going to happen now."

"What are you going to do to us?" Natasha growled in Russian.

The boy paused. "I didn't understand that, so I'll just keep going. Basically, you three are all pieces in a master plan of ours that involves mass destruction and ultimately our dominance over, well, everything."

Tony couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this guy serious? "Come again?"

The boy ignored Tony. "With that being said... Romanoff, you're going to tell me everything you know about SHIELD and you're going to help us get into and take control of the organization. Stark, you are going to help us build a new type of weapon that will be used during our rise to power. We were contemplating using Banner to aid in this mission, but we figured it was best to just let him go; we don't want him making a huge mess of things. He shouldn't pose that big of a threat to us, especially with some of our people watching him. And Rogers... you're actually not of much use to us right now."

All three of them stared daggers at him as he spoke.

"I'm not finished yet," the boy said, holding up a hand. "When all of our little projects are finished, you all still have a purpose. Once we begin wreaking havoc across the country, we will make sure to bring all three of you out in front of thousands of citizens, along with television crews that broadcast nationwide, and you will each be killed publicly."

Tony flinched at his words, which only fed the boy's delight and maliciousness.

"People need to know that superheroes are nothing but overrated icons. We will show the world that we are more powerful than any so-called superhero, and that _we_ are the ones who are in power. No one will be able to stop us."

"You can't do this!" Tony shouted. Apparently he had not yet learned his lesson about talking back to these people. He braced himself for more physical injury, but this time the boy did nothing.

"We'll see about that," he said in menacing tone.

"Who are you guys anyway?" Steve said as the boy turned to leave.

The boy stopped in the middle of the room and looked over his shoulder. "We are Exitium."

Just then another member of Exitium walked in. "Sir, it appears as though we've lost track of the Hulk. And someone mentioned seeing something suspicious above ground, and the video feed has stopped working."

The first boy appeared irritated. "I'll look into it. In the meantime, you go and make sure everyone in Sector Two is prepared."

Suddenly there was a bang accompanied by a pillar of smoke, and the door was blasted off its hinges. "Go, now!" Tony detected a familiar voice. Tony heard a yell and then a gunshot, and then everything was quiet. The commotion ceased as abruptly as it had started.

The room was quiet as the smoke dissipated. Tony's heart jumped in happiness and relief as he saw Coulson standing over the body of one of the boys, gun in hand, and Hawkeye positioned with his bow in hand at the threshold of the room. Tony's gaze was directed to the boy closer to him, who had an arrow sticking out of his chest.

"Come on, guys, we're busting you out of here."

"Clint! Thank god you found us," Natasha exclaimed.

"Technically I'm the one who found you," Coulson interposed.

Both Coulson and Hawkeye began releasing Tony, Steve, and Natasha from their ties. Coulson freed Tony, and Tony fell to the floor with a grunt.

"Are you okay?" Coulson asked. "How badly are you hurt?"

"Pretty badly," Tony groaned. Coulson carefully helped him stand up.

Hawkeye put his arm around Natasha to support her, but Natasha protested. "I'm fine, go help Tony."

"Natasha, you can't walk on that ankle," Hawkeye said, his tone telling her not to argue with him. "Coulson's got Tony. You in good enough shape to walk?" he then asked Steve.

"Yeah," Steve replied, rolling his sore shoulders and rubbing his wrists where the ties had dug into his skin. "I'm okay."

"Good. Let's get out of here."

* * *

Tony limped along with Coulson supporting him as fast as he could. Every step jarred his body and made a new wave of pain wash over him. "Just a little further," Coulson repeated encouragingly.

They met less opposition as they escaped than Tony thought they would. There were already some people slumped on the ground, probably having been taken out by Hawkeye and Coulson when they were breaking in.

Coulson was leading the group with his gun in one hand and Tony on his other arm. Clint and Natasha were right behind them, since Clint couldn't use his bow and arrows while he was practically carrying Natasha. Steve brought up the rear, easily fighting off anyone who dared to approach him. Someone even resorted to throwing one of their kerosene lamps at him after his gun was knocked out of his hand, which Steve batted away. The lamp broke against the wall.

They hobbled through a large corridor before making a sharp turn and coming up to a ladder. "Look out!" Natasha yelled. They were being chased by three people, and Tony could see a taser in one of their hands. The one with the taser swerved around them and aimed directly for Coulson. Steve jumped in front of him and easily knocked him unconscious, then whipped around and slammed the other two men into each other.

Coulson looked at Steve, both of them breathing heavily. "Good work."

They all scrambled up the ladder, Natasha using just one leg and Tony just having to grin and bear the pain, and they emerged above ground. Tony looked around and realized they were in the mouth of a cave.

They ran out of the entrance of the cave and into open space.

Coulson touched a finger to his earpiece. "Agent Hill, we're ready for you."

"There is an entire underground movement consisting of over a hundred people who are out to kill us and essentially take over the country. How could SHIELD have missed something like this?" Natasha said angrily.

"My question is how were they able to install a door down there?" Tony muttered.

The whirring of a helicopter sounded near them. All of them looked up to see Agent Hill flying above them. She brought the helicopter closer to the ground and lowered a rope ladder for them to climb up.

Tony then heard more people coming after them, emerging out of the mouth of the cave. "We better hurry." Gunshots were fired, some ricocheting off of the helicopter and one barely missing Tony's head. Finally they all made it into the helicopter, and they sped off in the opposite direction.

"Director Fury, our mission is complete," Agent Hill said. "We're heading east towards SHIELD headquarters."

"Where are we?" Tony asked from the back of the helicopter, speaking to the back of Agent Hill's head.

Coulson was the one who answered him. "We're currently in the Middle of Nowhere, Southern California. We're going to meet up with Fury at the SHIELD base in New Mexico."

"And then what?" Natasha inquired.

"Then it's time to take down Exitium."

* * *

**A/N: In case you were wondering, Coulson is my favorite so we're pretending he didn't die in The Avengers. Which I guess he didn't, since their making the Agents of Shield show that I'm super excited about. #COULSONLIVES! Hey that's the first time I've ever put a hashtag in front of something. Oh yeah, if you were curious about what Exitium means, it is 'destruction' in Latin...I think. Okay I'm going to stop ranting now.**


	12. Contrasting Emotions

"Who would have thought we'd find ourselves back on the Helicarrier?" Steve said as the airship took flight for the first time since Loki's attack on New York. They were all standing in the bridge of the Helicarrier, having all followed Coulson there after Agent Hill landed the helicopter on the runway of the enormous spacecraft.

"Yeah, it's sure great to be back," Tony said sarcastically. "Now can someone get me to a doctor?"

"Don't worry, we have a doctor on board. He'll tend to you in just a moment," Coulson said.

Suddenly a thought hit Tony. "Pepper... we have to get her somewhere safe... Exitium will surely target her..."

"We did," Agent Hill assured him. "She's here on the Helicarrier right now."

"What? The Helicarrier? There's no way this place is the safest –"

Tony's words were cut short as he heard Pepper's voice calling his name. Then she appeared from around the corner.

"Pepper."

Pepper practically crumbled at the sight of him. "Oh, my god." She ran up to him and then thought twice about touching him, afraid she'd hurt him. "Tony, you look –"

"Like hell, I know," Tony finished for her.

"What happened to you?" Pepper whispered sadly.

"I'll explain later. I have to fix some broken bones first." Tony tried to ignore Pepper's appalled expression.

Two hours, twelve stitches, and plenty of painkillers later, Tony was feeling a little better. Now he was just exhausted. Agent Hill informed him that everyone had turned in for the night, since it was now midnight. They planned to begin working on a strategy for the Exitium mission in the morning. She showed him to the bedroom he would be staying in, asked him if he needed anything, and then turned and walked away.

Pepper was already in bed, but she wasn't asleep. She was sitting up and staring at the doorway, probably waiting for him to come in. "Tony," she acknowledged, leaning forward a little as he entered the room.

Tony saw a pair of pajamas that Pepper had laid out on the bed for him. He grabbed the clothes and headed into the bathroom to change. He reemerged after a few moments and slid under the bed sheets next to Pepper, turning on his side to face her.

"You okay?" Pepper murmured.

Tony nodded. "I'll be fine."

There was a short silence before Pepper said, "I understand if you don't want to talk about what happened..." She trailed off, allowing Tony to decide whether or not to say anything.

Tony nodded, taking a deep breath. He explained everything from the party to their escape from underground (leaving out the part about Margaret), and Pepper listened. When he finished, Pepper just gazed into his eyes and then kissed him.

"What was that for?" he mumbled curiously.

"I'm just glad you're okay," she said. Tony closed his eyes. "We're going to find them," Pepper said. "And we're going to stop them. They won't get away with what they did to you."

"And by _we_, you mean _me and the other Avengers_," Tony said, catching her hand in his. "I'm not letting you get anywhere near this. You could get killed."

"I'll stay safe," Pepper said, kissing the tip of his nose. "I promise."

Tony hummed in response, pulling her closer and meeting his lips with hers. "I'm really – glad – you're here – with me," he said between slow, lingering kisses.

Pepper smiled and trailed her fingers along his face, memorizing his features. She leaned her head against his and closed her eyes. "Me too."

* * *

Natasha had given up on sleeping after an hour of lying awake staring at the ceiling and wandered aimlessly around the Helicarrier, limping on her bad ankle. Now she was standing at the bridge of the ship. She folded her arms and leaned against the railing in front of her. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened, couldn't stop thinking about how she was defeated and hopeless and hurt...

_'What is wrong with me?'_

"Can't sleep?"

Natasha gasped and turned her head to see Clint walking towards her. She shook her head. "No."

"Me either." Clint came up and stood next to her, also leaning on the railing. "Are you going to be okay?"

"My ankle will heal soon," Natasha said. "It doesn't hurt that badly."

"That's not what I meant, Nat."

Natasha's breath hitched when he used his nickname for her. She turned her head to make eye contact with him. "This is nothing compared to what I've been through in the past. You know that."

"You're not answering the question," Clint pointed out softly.

She took a breath, actually contemplating the question and giving him an honest answer. "I don't know."

"You don't have to be so strong all the time. You're allowed to show pain."

Natasha frowned. "No. I'm not."

"Tasha." Clint put his arms around her comfortingly, but Natasha pulled away, putting a hand to his chest to push him back.

"Clint, don't," she whispered reluctantly. "We can't..."

Clint let her go, a sad and yearning glint in his eye. "Right." He stood still, wishing so much that she would change her mind and allow him to hold her. But he knew she wouldn't.

Natasha turned to walk away back to her bedroom. She took a few steps and then stopped, keeping her head down. "Goodnight, Barton."

Clint watched her walk away, keeping his eyes on her until he could no longer see her and all that was left was an empty silence. "Goodnight, Romanova."


	13. Secrets Uncovered

Tony was the last one to walk into the meeting, and he had to resist making a smart-ass comment as everyone's eyes turned to him when he entered the room. His irritated mood was not made better by the fact that it was pouring down rain, and he hadn't gotten very much sleep last night. Tony pulled out the remaining unoccupied chair next to Steve.

"Glad you made it, Mr. Stark," Fury said, aggravation lacing his sentence.

"Sorry I'm late," Tony answered, his nonchalant tone indicating that he wasn't actually very sorry. It was clear that he and Fury still didn't get along perfectly well. Every time they spoke to each other it was like they were locked in a battle of wits and words.

"So what's the plan?" Agent Hill said to commence the meeting.

"We're not ready to make an aggressive move yet," Fury claimed. "Right now we should focus on finding Dr. Banner, while keeping a close watch on Exitium. I need records and accounts of their every move as frequently as possible. If something gets out of hand, then we'll intervene. For now they seem to have just disappeared, so I want a team searching for them but staying out of their way. We need all the information we can get before we make a decisive act."

"I think we should just hunt them down and blow them off the face of the planet," Tony said, clapping his hands together. "That should take care of everything."

"Are you crazy?" Steve exclaimed. "Do you realize how badly that could end? Think of everything that could go wrong. We need to be patient."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Patience isn't really my thing."

"Well, that's too bad."

"Whatever you say, Captain."

"Steve's right, you know," Natasha spoke up as Steve opened his mouth to chastise Tony. "We need a real plan, not to act recklessly."

"Mr. Stark, I would really appreciate it if you only spoke when you had something helpful to say," Fury said. Tony ignored his sarcastic comment and slumped further down in his chair.

"I thought my plan was pretty good."

"Anyway," Coulson interjected, "Why doesn't one of you three clarify in detail everything you know about Exitium so far?"

Natasha proceeded to explain everything that had happened, and they continued the discussion further until everyone was satisfied with the future course of action. For now, it seemed like the team of superheroes weren't needed. That is, until they found out more about Exitium's plans. Therefore they had some time to kill while a few agents flew out in a helicopter to go retrieve Bruce. So Natasha went with Steve and Clint into the training area to work out and practice their skills, and Tony relaxed with Pepper after rebooting JARVIS with an all-new firewall and highly sensitive defense system. There was no way anyone was hacking into JARVIS or accessing any of his suits ever again.

"I'm just a little unsure about Fury's decision to be passive," Tony was saying as he washed the grease off his hands from tinkering with the Iron Man suit that was on board. "And if Rogers doesn't shut up soon, I'll throw him off this ship. Who does he think he is? Some sort of wise leader? I have good ideas too, but he's so much better than me so everything I say he'll just ignore and pass off as stupid," Tony rambled, muttering the last part under his breath.

"You know SHIELD has to be a lot more careful than that, and Steve usually does know what he's doing," Pepper said. Tony made an annoyed sound in reply. "How about we play a game to get your mind off it?" she suggested.

Tony dried his hands and walked back in the bedroom, perching on the edge of the narrow bed. He arched an eyebrow at her. "A game?"

"Come on, it'll be fun."

Tony shrugged. "Alright. What kind of game?"

"Maybe Truth or Dare?"

"No, no dares," Tony refused. "Dares only lead to trouble."

"Okay, just Truth then." Pepper sat cross-legged across from Tony. "You go first," she said.

Tony thought for a moment, and then said, "If you could go back in time to any time period, what would it be?"

A concentrative frown creased Pepper's forehead as she thought of an answer. "I've always been fascinated with the Elizabethan Era," she said. "Queen Elizabeth was my favorite monarch to study, and there was Shakespeare and amazing art and architecture and so many important historical events and such a unique culture. I think I'd pick that."

"Interesting," Tony responded. He loved it when Pepper opened up and talked about things she was really interested in. "Okay, now you go."

Pepper tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hmm... what job would you have if you weren't an inventor?"

"Zookeeper."

Pepper playfully swatted at his arm. "You're supposed to answer truthfully."

"Who says I'm not?" Tony said with a quirky smile. He then threw another question at her. "Describe your first boyfriend."

"His name was Adam," Pepper remembered immediately. "He was tall, had dark skin, dreamy eyes, a great kisser..."

"Alright, thank you, that's enough of that," Tony interrupted her. Pepper laughed at his irritation. "You're turn."

"Okay, I'll go ahead and ask: how many women?"

Tony cringed. He was hoping she wouldn't ask that. Pepper tapped her fingers on her leg and raised an eyebrow at him.

"How... how many, um, well..." he sputtered. He avoided Pepper's stare as she waited for him to respond with a real answer. "I've lost count," he admitted, talking rapidly. "But that's all in the past now. Even the young, super hot ones are nothing compared to you."

"What?"

"Okay, that came out wrong."

"You think?"

"I'm sorry, let me rephrase that."

"No, no, you should probably just stop talking."

There was a huge clap of thunder, and Pepper jumped a little, startled.

"It's okay, I've got you," Tony said, wrapping his arm around Pepper's shoulders.

"I'm not afraid of a little thunderstorm, Tony," Pepper snapped.

Tony withdrew his arms and leaned back. "I was trying to be romantic."

"Whatever. Your turn."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to keep playing this?" Tony wondered. Pepper shot him a look. "Okay, fine. Um, lemme think of one... what's your favorite color?"

"Seriously? That's the best you can come up with?"

"This is a _get-to-know-you-better_ game, is it not? And I realize I don't even know much of this stupid basic crap about you. Besides, you're the one who wanted to continue," Tony said defensively.

Pepper sighed. "Fine. My favorite color is red." There was a pause while she thought of a question to ask him. "Tell me a good memory from your childhood."

Tony looked up at her. Her expression had softened a little, and she was gazing at him in curiosity. He hadn't revealed much about his childhood to anyone. Tony sat there for a moment while he thought of a good memory to tell. "Well, when I was little, my mother used to like to take me to museums. We would take day trips into the heart of Manhattan and visit as many museums as possible. My mother always used to tell me that she loved the way I lit up with excitement as I discovered something new. My favorite museums were of course the math and science and technology ones. We would spend hours and hours in those, and during the car rides home I wouldn't stop talking about all the cool things we saw. It made both of us really happy." Tony smiled as he pictured his five-year-old self staring in wonder at a model of a Carbon atom with his face pressed up against the glass casing. "I used to beg my father to come along," he said, his voice now softer, "because I wanted to show him all the awesome things I was seeing and learning. But he was always too busy to spend time with me."

Pepper's eyes turned sympathetic as he reached the end of his story. Yet at the same time she was completely intrigued. It was the first time he had opened up a window to his past. She felt like she was peering into the person Tony used to be before she met him, and before his parents died. She hoped that this wasn't the only glimpse she would get of this part of him.

"Okay, now me," Tony said, his voice still low. "When was the exact moment that you fell in love with me?"

Pepper gasped a little, slightly caught off guard by the question. She looked at Tony, who glancing down and fiddling with the corner of a pillowcase to avoid eye contact.

It took Pepper a second to find her voice. "I realized I loved you while you were captured in Afghanistan," she said quietly. "When you were gone, my whole life felt different. I think I tried to deny it at first, because I was afraid of falling in love with you. But from then on every minute I spent with you just felt... right. And that one night on the roof... I actually wanted you to kiss me." Pepper gave a little smile at the memory. That moment seemed so distant, like it was from a past life. "You know, for a while I thought I would never see you again. You don't know how relieved I was when you came home from Afghanistan in one piece," she said.

Tony's eyes involuntarily flicked to his chest. "Well, sort of."

There was a change in his tone, and Pepper was worried that she had upset him. The arc reactor was usually a touchy subject. She had always wondered about it, wondered about exactly what happened to Tony in that cave, but Tony never talked about it. She gazed at the blue glow that emitted from the arc reactor and reached out towards it, but then curled her fingers before they made contact with it.

Pepper was quiet for a moment before she spoke. When she did, her voice was barely above a whisper. "Does it hurt? Having this thing in your chest?"

A silence stretched between them, and suddenly Pepper wished she could take the words back. She was hurting him by making him remember. She could practically see the painful memories dancing across his mind.

"Sometimes," he admitted. "But I've gotten used to it. It's a part of me now. And honestly, I wouldn't be who I am now without it. This is the reason I was able to become Iron Man, and it's the reason I'm... changed."

Pepper shook her head. "No. You changed on your own. You never needed this in order to become the man you are now. You saw the mistakes that were made, saw the errors of your past, and you realized you had to correct them and make things right. _That's_ what makes you who you are."

The corner of Tony's mouth twitched up into a small smile. He didn't know how to express it, but her words meant a lot to him.

"You know, the entire time I was being kept in those caves, you were the reason I was able to make it through each day."

Pepper looked up and met Tony's gaze. He was looking at her with such affection and sincerity, it brought tears to her eyes.

"All I could think about was getting back home to you," he said, sliding his hands over her shoulders. "I guess I fell in love with you at the same time you fell in love with me. I realized I couldn't live without you. That I didn't _want_ to live without you. I guess it just took me a while to admit it to anyone; even to myself." In all honesty, Tony was still a little afraid of love. He had always been a playboy; girls came and went and he never had to give them a second thought. He wasn't used to the idea of being in a committed relationship. But things were different now that he had Pepper, which was both wonderful and terrifying to him.

Pepper scooted closer, cupped his face in her hands, and brought his lips to hers in a loving kiss. "I love you, Tony," she whispered, resting her head against his chest.

Tony combed his fingers softly through her hair. "I love you too, honey."

"I hate to interrupt you two," came Coulson's voice suddenly, making both Tony and Pepper jump. He was holding the door open and leaning against the doorframe.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Tony muttered.

Coulson either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him. "Dr. Banner is here. And Director Fury wants to talk to you."

* * *

**A/N: I really wanted to have a chapter that delves a little more deeply into Pepper and Tony's relationship/personal lives, so I wrote this chapter mostly about that. The action will pick up again soon. Thanks to everyone who is reading this story, and to everyone who has written me such nice reviews! It means a lot to me**


	14. Fallout

**A/N: Hey guys. I was totally planning on having another chapter up yesterday, but (long story short) I ended up having to drive 8 hours straight so I had no time to write/update. Updates may be a little slower for the month of July because I'm going to be really busy. Sorry!**

* * *

Tony was more than relieved to see an unscathed Bruce talking with Agent Hill and Director Fury. Bruce looked up when he saw Tony and smiled, interrupting his conversation to greet him. "Glad to see you're okay, Tony."

"Glad to have you back," Tony replied, returning the smile. "I'm assuming Eyepatch and Agent Hill have already told you everything that's going on."

Agent Hill rolled her eyes.

"That's _Director_ Eyepatch to you, Mr. Stark," Fury said. Tony chuckled. "And your assumption is correct. What I need to talk to you two about is this weapon you said they were planning on creating."

"Yeah, they said something about an all-new weapon that was meant to do mass damage. They said they needed Bruce and me in order to build it, but they weren't sure how to capture Bruce and make him work without facing the Hulk."

"Smart choice," Bruce muttered.

"Do you know anything else about it?" Fury inquired.

"No. That's all they told me."

"But I'm assuming if they required my assistance, it may have something to do with gamma radiation, or something along those lines," Bruce thought aloud. "By the way, is it cold in here to anyone else?"

Tony shrugged. "I'm kinda hot."

"Anyway, back to the weapon," Fury started.

His words were cut off as the other Avengers headed towards them. Natasha and Steve were in front, both looking sweaty and tired (probably from beating the crap out of punching bags for the past half hour), with Clint following behind them. They all spread out when they entered the room.

"Dr. Banner," Natasha nodded at him as she unwrapped boxing tape off her hands. She was dressed in shorts and a tank top, and she was still breathing a little heavily from her intense workout. "Nice to see you." She reached up and pushed a piece of hair back that was plastered to her face.

"What did we miss?" Steve asked, dabbing his face with a towel.

"We were just discussing this new weapon that Exitium claimed they were building," Agent Hill informed him.

Fury spoke up again. "We had some SHIELD agents search the caves they had been working in, but they didn't leave many useful hints behind."

"Right," Tony said. "My guess is that they've relocated to work on the weapon, and then when it's ready they'll come out of hiding to unleash its power or whatever. Who knows how long it's going to take them to build it... They probably won't be ready to make an offensive move against us anytime soon."

"That's at least a little reassuring," Clint said. "It will give us some time."

"Exactly, but who cares? All we're doing is waiting around anyway," Tony said dryly. "We could use our time wisely and just end Exitium while we can."

"Waiting is the only thing we _can_ do right now," Steve countered. "You're not starting this up again, are you?

"Starting what up again? I'm being realistic. What we're doing is giving _them_ time. We need to find Exitium _now_ and put an end to them before they are able to do any damage."

"I agree with Tony," Bruce said, shrinking back a few steps when Steve turned his glare to him.

"We don't even know where they are."

"_Then look for them!_"

"We're doing that right now," Fury said. "But even when we do find them we need a thought-out course of action before we –"

"So we find them and then do nothing," Tony clarified. "Great idea."

"Stark, maybe you like to do things recklessly and thoughtlessly, but we can't afford to make any mistakes," Natasha scolded.

"You guys aren't seeing – AH!"

A huge blast knocked them all off their feet, and suddenly there was a large hole in the side of the Helicarrier.

"Oh my god!"

An earsplitting alarm sounded, and red lights flashed throughout the room.

"What was that about them not making an offensive move?" Steve yelled at Tony over the sound the alarm and the wind and rain rushing by.

Tony stood and took a running step towards the left corridor to suit up, but then a jolt sent him flying towards the hole in the wall. The wind was pulling at him, trying to suck him right out of the Helicarrier, and Tony grabbed onto the broken wall of the airship to keep from plummeting to the ground. But his grip was not good enough.

"Tony!"

Just as Tony's fingers slipped, he felt a strong hand grab onto his. Bruce was leaning out of the hole, straining to pull Tony back into the Helicarrier. But the ship's sharp decline and a tilt made Bruce pitch forward, and his grasp on Tony's hand slipped.

"No!"

Tony let out a scream as he fell unboundedly through the stormy sky.


	15. The Last Avenger Arrives

_'This is it. I'm going to die_._'_

Tony closed his eyes. What a stupid way to die, especially after everything he'd been through and survived so far. He'd much rather have met his end while doing something a little more... exciting? Heroic? Maybe jumping in front of a bullet to save someone he loved. And there was really only one person he loved, and that was Pepper. Yes, sacrificing himself to save Pepper would have been a much more acceptable way to go.

_ 'What am I supposed to be doing right now? Thinking back on my life? Coming to terms with my death? Sounds a little cliché. Might as well, though, right?' _

But before he could even start thinking, he suddenly felt a strong force hit him from the side, and suddenly he was soaring sideways through the air with something clinging onto him. He looked up to see his Iron Man suit grasping him from behind. The suit soared outward and down, slowing the fall a little, and they crash-landed into a lake. They skidded across the water with huge splashes before finally stopping and sinking down into the murky water.

The Iron Man suit let go of Tony, who franticly swam his way to the surface, gasping for air and swimming his way to the shore. Whoever was in the suit followed him, and they both clawed their way onto the muddy bank. Tony's elbows gave out from under him and he collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily. He rolled onto his back.

"Tony? Are you okay?"

Tony's heart froze. That voice sounded strikingly familiar. But it couldn't be...

The person in the Iron Man suit reached up and removed the helmet, tossing it to the side.

"_Pepper?_"

"JARVIS, get me out of here," Pepper commanded. The Iron Man suit opened up, and Pepper half-stepped, half-fell out of it, landing on her hands and knees.

Tony didn't even know what to say. He just lay there, staring at her in shock.

"You're welcome," Pepper said after a moment. Water was dripping from her hair and onto Tony's face as she leaned over him.

"How did you – but that's not – why – _what?_"

"Very articulate," Pepper teased him half-heartedly. "Are you okay?" she asked him again.

"I'm fine," Tony grunted, "but how did you –"

"I heard the explosion and saw you falling," Pepper explained, "so I put your Iron Man suit on and told JARVIS to let me operate the suit because it was an emergency."

"You know how to fly it?"

"Not at all."

"Well, not bad," Tony said. Then his impressed tone turned upset. "You realize you could have been killed? You told me you'd stay out of the way so you wouldn't get hurt."

Pepper looked like she was holding back the urge to slap him. "I think _'thank' _and_ 'you'_ are the words you're looking for. I just saved your life! Again!"

"But you shouldn't have –"

This time Pepper's hand did whip out, and she slapped him right across the face.

Tony put a hand to his stinging cheek. "Ow. Okay, please don't ever do that again."

"You deserved it," Pepper retorted.

"I guess." Tony pushed himself to a sitting position, and Pepper pulled him to his feet. "Thank you, Pepper," Tony said finally. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'd be dead without me," Pepper pointed out.

"True." Tony looked up and scanned the rainy sky for the Helicarrier, but he couldn't spot it thanks to its reflective panels. The only thing he could see was a small pillar of smoke, which was probably originating from the initial blast that hit the side of the ship. He knew that Exitium had to be close. "I have to find them," he declared in a matter-of-fact tone. He retrieved the helmet and stepped into his Iron Man suit, which whirred and lit up.

Pepper immediately protested. "What? Are you crazy? You can't just take them on by yourself." She had always known Tony to be impulsive, and usually she was able to talk some sense into him before he got himself into trouble. She was what grounded him; she was his voice of reason when he needed it. But she could tell that he would not be so easily persuaded this time.

"Pepper, Exitium is here and they're attacking the Helicarrier. I can't let anything happen to anyone else. I've got to stop them."

She gave up on arguing with him and just complied with a nod. "So what's your plan?"

Tony hadn't really thought about a plan. He needed some kind of clue first before he could find Exitium. He knew they were nearby, but he wasn't sure what direction they needed to go.

Just then a missile was fired into the sky from their left. _'That'll work_._'_ Tony held his breath and waited for the explosion, but the missile luckily missed the Helicarrier. "You stay here. I'm going after them."

"But –" Pepper whined, but she closed her mouth when Tony turned on her intimidatingly. "Just wait here." With that, he started up the thrusters and flew out in what he hoped was the right direction.

Tony flew for just a few minutes, scanning the ground below him, until he found them. The HUD zoomed in to show Tony more detail; there were only five of the Exitium members there, and they were all standing behind a large missile launcher that was pointed towards the sky. "JARVIS, start putting more power into the repulsors," he instructed.

"Yes, sir."

JARVIS did as he was told as Tony flew straight down and landed right in front of them, making a sizable dent in the ground upon impact. He straightened up and aimed his repulsor at one of them. "Stand down," he demanded.

One man smirked. "Do you really expect us to give in that easily?"

"No, but it would be the smartest choice," Tony replied. "Now stop firing missiles at my team."

"You know, I don't think it's very fair that you get the protection of your suit while us five are standing here very vulnerable," the same man commented to another Exitium member. "Don't you agree?"

Tony scoffed. "_Fair_ has nothing to do with anything."

"Let's make this interesting," the man said. "You come out of your little shell, and then we'll hold our fire."

"I don't think so." Tony started up his repulsor.

"If you shoot, this missile will go off. And this time we'll make sure not to miss."

Tony hesitated, not sure what move to make next. He contemplated taking all of them out with the shoulder missiles, but they would notice him preparing to strike and fire the missile.

Just as he opened his mouth to tell JARVIS to disassemble the suit, there was a huge crack of lightning, and something fell from the sky not ten yards away from them. All of them turned in surprise, and Tony breathed a sigh of relief; Thor was crouched on the ground, a fierce look in his eye and Mjoӧlnir readied in his hand.

"I see I've made it just in time."

* * *

**A/N: Yes, I realize that 'intimidatingly' is not a real word, but I'm using it anyway. Seriously, though, it should be a word. Someone should bring it up with the people who write the dictionary. On a different note, I'm going to start writing other fanfics (don't worry, I'm not abandoning this one), so if you're interested I'll be attempting some more Iron Man/Avengers one-shots (and possibly longer fics) and uploading them here, if all goes well. Also I realized that I haven't put a disclaimer on this yet, so here it is: I do not own Iron Man or the Avengers. All rights go to Marvel. I guess I own the plot though, since it's original? I dunno. **


	16. Talk of War

**A/N: Sorry it took me forever to update! Keep those reviews coming, they make my day :)**

* * *

The sudden appearance of the powerful Asgardian demigod put fearful looks on the five Exitium members' faces. Thor looked just as Tony had remembered him; he still had his red cape and silver armor and enormous muscles and long, dirty-blonde hair (which actually appeared to be even longer than before, if that was possible).

"If you know what's good for you, you'll do as I say..." Thor growled, his voice low and threatening, "...Get out of here now."

Three of the five of Exitium backed away a little but still seemed unsure of what to do. One stayed sternly in place. The last didn't move either, but looked like he was about to be sick and kept glancing behind him at the others.

Thor quickly grew impatient at their hesitation and ran towards them. "I said get out!"

Tony's eyes widened and he made a reflexive move at Thor. He felt tongue-tied as he tried to sputter out a warning.

But before Tony could say anything and just before Thor reached them, the one brave member of Exitium fired the missile.

Tony cursed and shot off towards the missile, hoping to catch it before it hit the Helicarrier. Below him he heard a huge clang as Thor's hammer smashed down on the missile launcher, and he even felt a little shockwave as he flew through the air towards the ship.

A fresh wave of adrenaline coursed through him. Tony gained on the missile as it approached the Helicarrier; it was just barely out of reach now...

"JARVIS, I need more power in the thrusters!" Tony sped up, and just as the missile was about to hit the Helicarrier, he swung his arm out and batted it away. The missile's trajectory changed, and it soared through the sky away from them.

Tony let out the breath he was holding as relief flooded through him, but this wasn't over yet. He flew back down to the ground to meet back up with Thor, who was standing over four of them who had fallen to the ground from Mjӧlnir's shockwave. Tony slammed into the one man left standing and pinned him to the ground.

"Where are the others?" he demanded. Anger coursed through him when he didn't get a response. "What weapon are you working on? _Where is everyone hiding?_" He aimed his repulsor at him.

"Okay, I'll tell you!" the man choked, as fear of being obliterated by Iron Man overcame him. "We're underneath an abandoned building a few miles out. But it doesn't matter now, because you're too late."

Tony scowled. "Too late? What do you mean?"

"The weapon is ready. We're already on the move."

_'What? How can the weapon be finished already?'_

"On the move where?" Tony started the repulsor up threateningly. "_Where?_"

The man turned his head to the side and squirmed underneath Tony's weight. "Washington D.C. We're headed for the nation's capital. Then everyone will watch as we overtake the entire country from its most prized and proud city."

Tony angrily shot the repulsor right next to the man's head. "You'll never win."

The man just looked up at him, staring through the eye slits of the Iron Man helmet. His words had turned from strangled and fearful to calm and creepily confident in just one second. "Yes. Yes, we will."

* * *

"I can't believe you let them get away. Couldn't you watch what you're doing next time?"

"My apologies. I didn't realize you were standing so close."

"My entire body aches. Next time, leave the freaky hammer at home. Or at least make sure I'm not right next to you when you swing your big arm my way."

Tony and Thor bickered the entire way to the lake. They finally made their way back to Pepper, who fretted about Tony until he convinced her he was okay.

"We need to get back up to the Helicarrier," Tony stated urgently. "JARVIS, dial Coulson's number." Coulson picked up on the first ring, and Tony reassured him that he and Pepper were okay. "I need you to lower the Helicarrier so we can come back on board," Tony said. Of course he could fly up there himself, but the low oxygen levels would not be kind to Pepper unless she was in a suit as well. "Also Thor's here," he added.

"What? Thor is here?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I just said that. Did I stutter?"

"No need to be a smartass, Stark. What exactly happened down there?"

"I'll explain in a minute. Just lower the ship."

Soon the Helicarrier came back into view and was lowered much closer to the ground, and Tony wrapped his arm around Pepper's waist and flew both of them up to the main deck and inside towards the bridge. Thor followed them, using Mjӧlnir to fling himself into the air and onto the enormous aircraft.

"Thank god you're okay," Natasha said as Tony removed his helmet. She caught sight of Thor, who was towering above both Tony and Pepper, and gave him a confused look.

"Is anyone hurt?" Steve asked, worry etched into his features. Pepper shook her head, and Steve relaxed a little.

"I wouldn't have let you fall, you know," Bruce said to Tony. Tony smiled and nodded. He trusted Bruce – if Pepper hadn't beaten him to it, he would have Hulked out and caught him before he hit the ground.

"I hope the hole in the Helicarrier won't be too huge of an issue..." Tony said.

"We have a repair team working on it right now," Coulson said. "The damage to the ship isn't too much, so we're okay to stay in the air. I'm glad you made it back unharmed."

Tony smiled and glanced at Pepper next to him. "I wouldn't have, if it weren't for Pepper."

"Thor Odinson," Director Fury's voice came from the back of the room. "I have to say, I didn't expect to see you. Don't you still have business in Asgard to tend to?"

"Something more important has come up here," Thor said. Everyone glanced at him, waiting for him to explain. "It has to do with my brother."

Natasha tensed. "Loki? What threat could he possibly pose? He's locked up in your world, isn't he?"

Tony hoped he had heard Thor wrong. He would rather jump back out of this Helicarrier without his Iron Man suit than battle that maniac again.

"Loki is still in Asgard," Thor confirmed, "but I believe he may still be affecting things here on Earth."

Fury stepped around Bruce to better face Thor. "How so?"

"He's been in contact with a group of people called Exitium. I take it you've heard of them, since I found Mr. Stark in a confrontation with some of them just a few minutes ago."

Everyone's expressions hardened. "You'd be correct about that," Steve grumbled.

"What else do you know?" Natasha asked. "What reason would Loki have to be contacting this random group of troublemakers?"

"I don't know exactly what they've been discussing, or how. All communications to other worlds should have been shut down. But I do know that he found a way to send something down to Earth."

Tony frowned. "Like what?"

"I don't know. Some kind of material. When I talked to him about it, he just said that if he couldn't take the Earth for himself, he could at least aid in destroying it and watch it burn."

"This doesn't sound good at all," Bruce stated, fiddling with his glasses nervously. "If Loki sent some material from another world..."

"Who knows what it will do, or if we'll be able to stand a chance against it," Clint finished for him.

A realization hit Tony. "The weapon... Exitium doesn't need Bruce or me anymore because they have Loki to help them build an even bigger one. And that's how it got completed so quickly. It's all because of Loki."

Thor barred his teeth at that statement, not wanting to admit that Tony was right about his brother.

Bruce shook his head and lifted his hand in an exasperated gesture. "What is this guy's problem?"

Fury pinched the bridge of his nose and then looked up at Tony. "Stark, what else did you learn from them down there?"

"That we don't have much time. They're already on the move. They're going to attack today."

"Where?"

"The nation's capital. They're on their way there as we speak."

"Well then I guess we better set a course for D.C."


	17. The Calm Before the Storm

"You think we'll make it in time?"

Tony jumped at Pepper's voice and then sighed. His nerves were frayed, and he felt so on edge that even the sound of a pin dropping could send him into a nervous breakdown. Right now he was standing near a window of the Helicarrier in the science lab. He had gone in there with the intention of enjoying solitude, but he was actually glad when Pepper followed him.

"Of course," he said simply, trying to conceal the fact that he felt like he was about to unravel. If there was one thing he was good at, it was putting on a show to hide his real emotions. But Pepper knew him better than that, and she easily saw right through his façade.

"Don't you dare lie to me, Tony."

Tony sighed again, putting his head in his hands. Pepper massaged the knotted muscles in his shoulders. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I honestly don't know if we'll make it. And I don't know what to expect. I'm afraid we won't be able to stop them."

Pepper gasped. "Did the great Tony Stark just admit he's _afraid_ of something?"

Tony surprised himself by cracking a smile. "You can't tell anyone I said that."

"My lips are sealed."

Tony turned to her. "Pepper?"

"Mhm?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Listen, Pep, if I don't make it out of this –"

"Don't say that," Pepper interrupted him forcefully. "You're going to be okay. I know you can do this, Tony."

Tony nodded feebly. "But, hypothetically..."

Pepper put a finger to his lips. "I don't want to hear it. Please." She gazed into his brown eyes. "I have faith in you, Tony. You should too." She didn't want him to doubt himself. Because if he didn't believe in himself, then what was _she _supposed to believe in? She had to know that he wouldn't give up on himself, and that he would come out of this alive. Hearing Tony's confidence was the one thing that would keep her sanity intact. There was no time for self doubt now. Maybe that was selfish of her, but she relied on that reassurance.

"I'll let you in on a secret," Tony then said after a minute. "There's something else I'm afraid of."

"What's that?" Pepper wondered.

Tony interlocked his fingers with hers. "Losing you."

Pepper hung her head a little. "That's not much of a secret. And I worry about losing you, too, Tony. All the time."

"I'm so sorry, Pepper. For getting you dragged into this. And for everything else I've done that's caused you pain."

"Don't apologize," Pepper said. "It's not like you meant for any of this to happen. And honestly, I'm fine."

"For now. But if you ever get hurt again, I'll never forgive myself."

Pepper wished she could get through to him and explain that whatever happened, nothing was his fault. It aggrieved her to see him beat himself up; he truly believed he was responsible for anything and everything bad that happened. He had been that way ever since he came back from Afghanistan. He had been powerless to save Yinsen then, and now he was terrified of anyone else being injured on his account. He didn't want to fail again at keeping the people close to him safe. It was as if he was trying to somehow make up for his inability to save Yinsen by being protective of Pepper, and he hated himself when any emotional or physical harm befell her. But didn't he realize that it made her sad to see him this way?

"Tony," Pepper whispered, her voice so quiet it was almost inaudible. Tony's heart flipped when she spoke his name with such affection. She swept his hair out of his eyes and trailed her fingertips along the side of his face. Tony's fingers slid up her arm, leaving a line of goosebumps where they grazed her soft skin, and stopped on her collarbone at the tip of her scar. Tony squeezed his eyes shut as his hand brushed the scar. Pepper took his hand and clutched it to her chest before holding it up and pressing it against her lips. "Everything's going to be fine."

Pepper's words were soothing to Tony, although he knew they were somewhat empty and meaningless. Neither of them had any idea what would happen when Tony and the Avengers fought Exitium.

Tony didn't sleep at all that night, no matter how hard he tried to relax. Pepper, on the other hand, fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, even though she tried to stay awake with him. Honestly, he didn't want to fall asleep, because he feared the nightmares would return. But he also didn't want to stay awake, because he dreaded seeing the sun come up to alert him of the new day. A new day would mean they would be landing in D.C. soon. It would mean the day of the impending battle against Exitium was here.

It was very possible that his reality may soon become worse than his nightmares.

* * *

**A/N: Here's a little Pepperony for you before the crazy action-y stuff starts to happen. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! (If you're looking for more fluff and less angst, that will come later. Also there's more Clintasaha on the way).**


	18. Battle of DC, Part One

**A/N: I apologize in advance for the fact that this chapter is poorly written**

* * *

This was it. They were approaching Washington D.C. With any luck, they would beat Exitium to the city. Tony had his doubts, but Steve was sure being optimistic about it.

"Tony," came Bruce's voice from behind him. "You ready?"

Tony took a deep breath. "Yeah," he answered, speaking to the window in front of him instead of turning to face Bruce. "Give me just a second." Tony caught sight of Pepper up on the floor above him, and he climbed up the stairs and walked around the circle to reach her.

Tony opened his mouth but then realized he had no idea what to say, and his throat felt constricted. Why was he so nervous? He had been on plenty of missions before. This one was no different, right?

Pepper was the one who finally broke the silence. "I'll meet you back up here later."

"Sure thing," Tony said. "Then we can go home and relax for a bit. Maybe go out for coffee or something. Sound good?"

"That sounds great," Pepper said. They were both trying to keep the conversation light, and to avoid saying anything that even remotely sounded like 'goodbye,' but there was still an unavoidable tension in the air.

"Do me a favor and call Rhodey for me. Tell him good luck with is promotion."

Pepper nodded. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

Tony smiled at her use of the professional dialect they used to use with each other before they became a couple. Memories of her following him around and fussing over paperwork and press conferences flashed across his mind. "That will be all, Ms. Potts."

* * *

"Cap, guard the Whitehouse. Protect the president at all costs. Try to get everyone to evacuate."

"I thought Coulson contacted the president to warn –"

"Long story short, the president didn't get the message. Natasha, sweep the surrounding area to make sure everyone is a safe distance from here. We don't want to risk civilians getting hurt. Hawkeye, see if you can get to a higher elevation and watch out for incoming Exitium members. Thor, you do the same. Bruce, you keep the fighting here as much as possible, but don't Hulk out until absolutely necessary. I'll be flying around the perimeter and taking on anyone who gets in my way. If there's a change in plans, I'll contact you. Got it?"

"Got it. But does anyone find it strange that Exitium hasn't shown up yet?"

"Yes, but that's the reason Hawkeye and I are here. I'm sure they're planning some kind of surprise attack, so we'll find them before they can pull it off. Now go."

* * *

_Tony_

Tony took off, flying vertically through the air and then shooting towards the Capitol building. He would start there and then circle around. For a while it looked like there was nothing out of the ordinary, until he caught sight of something at the base of the Washington Monument.

"It appears as though there is only one person down there, sir," JARVIS informed him, "but it is not a civilian."

"Wonderful."

Tony landed near the monument and lifted the face mask. The person he had seen was standing at the front of the monument, facing outwards. She turned when she heard Tony coming.

"There you are. I was expecting you."

Tony opened his arms. "Well, here I am." His eyes narrowed. "You don't look to dangerous. But I'm assuming Loki gave you some sort of weapon to use against us. Is that correct?"

The woman smirked. "Ah, so I see you've been talking with Thor."

"Yeah. Actually, he's here. Along with the rest of the Avengers, who took on Loki and his entire alien army in New York not too long ago."

"If you're trying to scare me into backing down, it's not going to happen."

Tony shrugged. "I'm just saying. You guys don't really stand a chance. I mean, if we were able to wipe out a bunch of extraterrestrial freaks, you humans should be no problem." Tony grew frustrated when she just laughed in response, but he didn't drop his confident charade. "And where are your little Exitium buddies? Are you planning on fighting us on your own or something? Because it looks to me like you're the only one here."

Another twisted smirk appeared on the woman's face and sent a chill down Tony's spine. "Oh, no. It's definitely not only me."

* * *

_Clint_

Clint was relieved to find a high-up location. He'd always felt more comfortable away from the ground, where he could see everything from a distance. He had made his way to the top of the National Spy Museum, telling everyone inside to evacuate underground along the way, and climbed onto the roof, and he was now scanning his eyes across the National Mall.

Minutes went by and nothing was happening. He could see Natasha headed for the Lincoln Memorial, and Steve was making his way to the Whitehouse. Bruce hadn't yet moved from where they had grouped up. Thor was just now moving to stake out a good position in case something happened.

Clint readied his bow and arrows, but still there was nothing.

"Guys, I don't see anything. No one is coming."

Right after he said that, though, Clint caught sight of something in the distance. His vision zeroed-in on Capitol Hill, where it looked like a large number of people were emerging from behind the building. They were moving at a rapid pace, and the sea of people just kept getting bigger. There had to be at least a hundred of them.

And they were all headed his way.

"I retract my previous statement... We definitely have a problem."

* * *

_Natasha_

Natasha walked around the Lincoln Memorial, looking for any sign of Exitium, but there wasn't even a single civilian there. It was eerily still and quiet. "I don't see anyone here," Natasha said as she lifted a finger to her earpiece. "This area looks secure."

"Great, now get out of there. We've got trouble in the National Mall."

Natasha felt the blood leave her face when Clint spoke. "Trouble?"

"Yeah, I've got a huge mass of Exitium members approaching fast and I need all the help I can get."

"Roger that."

"Stark, if you copy, I need you to fly up and meet them head-on. They're coming from behind the Capitol," Natasha heard through her earpiece.

Natasha turned to leave, but then she thought she heard something. She went back towards Lincoln's giant statue, peering around the back of it, and then recognized what the sound was. It was the faint beeping of a time bomb.

Natasha choked back a scream and wheeled around, sprinting as fast as she could across the marble floor and towards the stairs, and the beeping grew louder and more rapid. Just as the bomb detonated, she jumped.

The force of explosion propelled her forward, and she flew through the air. Natasha tumbled down the first set of stairs and then ran and grabbed the handrail in front of her, swinging under it and flinging herself to the side. She rolled on the ground a few feet and scrambled onto her hands and knees when suddenly a huge chunk of debris smashed down onto her leg. A strangled cry escaped her lips, and her vision began to fade as the pain became more and more excruciating.

"Natasha!"

* * *

_Bruce_

Bruce was about to run off to help Tony keep the mass of Exitium members at bay, but then suddenly he heard an explosion. He whirled around to see the Lincoln Memorial showering down in pieces.

_'That's where Romanoff is!'_

Bruce sprinted towards the memorial (or, rather, the area where the memorial used to be), and frantically searched for Natasha. He yelled out her name, and then gasped when he laid eyes on her. She was being crushed under a hunk of marble.

Bruce let the Hulk take over as he approached her, and his heart broke a little bit when he saw the fear in Natasha's eyes as he made his transformation.

_'I promise I won't hurt you.'_

The Hulk took one big step towards her and reached for the piece of marble that Natasha was trapped under, easily lifting it up and tossing it to the side. It landed with a thud.

Hulk reached towards Natasha slowly, so as not to scare her, and gently lifted her up and carried her towards the National Mall. That was the place he remembered one of his teammates was.

Another bomb went off inside the Jefferson Memorial, but he had no time to think about that.

Hulk could see the enemy fast approaching.

* * *

_Steve_

"Sir, you're not authorized to enter this vicinity –"

"Listen, this is an emergency, everyone needs to evacuate the city immediately." Steve was coming close to yelling at these stubborn people.

"We can't just evacuate the entire Whitehouse."

Steve pointed his finger at the man in front of him. "Do you care about the safety of your president and of this nation?"

The man gave him a wide-eyed look and then nodded. "Yes, of course, but –"

"Then do as I say. Please."

"Isn't that Captain America?" Steve heard someone whisper.

Steve started escorting people out of the building when he heard the warning from Clint. "Give me just one more minute," he said. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

* * *

_Thor_

Thor saw the swarm of Exitium at almost the same time Clint did. He swung Mjӧlnir around in quick rotations and let it fly him across the National Mall to where Clint was standing. He landed on the roof next to Clint and looked out to the horizon.

_'This is not good.'_

It would only be less than a minute before the Exitium swarm reached them.

* * *

Tony flew out towards the National Mall to meet up with Clint and the rest of the team on the ground. A bolt of fright shot through him when he saw Hulk carrying Natasha, who looked to be in a lot of pain.

"Tasha!" Clint ran to her, and the Hulk lowered her into Clint's arms. She clung to his neck. "Natasha, are you okay?"

Natasha grimaced. "I'll be fine."

"Can you even walk, Romanoff?" Tony asked.

"Of course I can." Clint gently put her down on her feet, but she collapsed when she tried to put weight on her right leg. Clint caught her as she fell.

"We have Exitium incoming," Steve warned.

Tony tensed, and he could see everyone around him do so as well.

"Prepare yourselves," Thor warned as they approached.

Tony was ready to make a move, but Steve held a hand out to stop him. "Wait. Let them make the first move."

"Why? That's a horrible idea!"

Steve got his way. At that moment, a bunch of them waved their hands in the air, and suddenly a pillar of the museum close to them broke off and flew towards the team.

"Get down!"

Tony jumped in front of Natasha to shield her.

"What... How... _are they controlling things with their minds?!_"

"We have a new power from worlds away!" came a booming voice that echoed through the entire city. "We will create a new nation under our rule. There is no stopping us!"

Police sirens rang through the streets. _'Finally,' _Tony thought. "Tell the police to help evacuate the city. There are still people here!"

"Stark, Hulk; go after them!" Clint yelled as Exitium began to disperse.

Tony jumped to his feet, his heart pounding. Before he could even take a step, he felt a searing sensation course throughout his body. All of his muscles seized up, and it felt like his nerves were on fire. Tony tried to scream, but no sound came out. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move. It was like he no longer had control over his own body. He heard the strangled cries of his team around him and assumed they were experiencing the same thing.

"You still think you're going up against mere humans?" another voice bellowed. More debris flew through the air as if on command, some narrowly missing Tony's head.

_'What is going on?!'_

Suddenly the sensation left Tony, and he crumpled to the ground, shaking and breathing heavily. The Hulk was running after Exitium, and his roar filled the air.

Tony's eyes narrowed in confusion and then widened in alarm at what happened next. At least thirty members of Exitium were grouping together, and then there was a flash of blue light. The people began to change shape, growing in size and morphing into a grotesque image.

"What...?" Tony breathed.

All seven of the Avengers stared in shock and horror at the sight that was unfolding in front of them.


	19. Battle of DC, Part Two

A loud scream effectively snapped Tony out of his state of shock, and he could now think straight again. But he found he was unable to believe his eyes.

A handful of Exitium were transforming. They were merging together and molding into something Tony had never seen before. Mere seconds passed before suddenly there was a 30-foot monster standing right ahead of them. Its skin looked rough, and it was a yellowy-green color that reminded Tony of a fading bruise. Horns and razor-sharp teeth on its face weren't even the most frightening thing about it. Its eyes glowed red, and they stared at Tony as if they could see right through to his core. It had five huge legs with protruding claws on each, and a long tail that could easily take out a building with just one swing. The monster's transformation came to an end, and it let out an ear-piercing and ground-shaking shriek.

Tony's internal question as to whether this thing had unnatural powers was answered as the monster opened its mouth and sprayed blue fire in a sweeping motion across the ground. The Avengers scattered. Tony flew up and fired the repulsors as many times as he could at the monster's face, but they hardly seemed to even be a bother to it. Tony cursed and flew around to search for a weak spot. _'At least they can't control us when they're in this state,'_ he thought.

Below him he could see Hawkeye shooting arrows at the monster. One went straight into its eye, and the monster reared up and roared. "I think I blinded its right eye!" Hawkeye shouted. The Hulk was taking wide swings at the monster and knocking it back a few steps. Thor struck at it with his lightning and then hit it hard with Mjoӧlnir, while Cap ran around to its back and flung his shield at it.

Suddenly the monster slammed its huge paw onto the ground, and the vibrations caused both Hawkeye and Natasha to fall to the ground. The monster then ran off towards the Whitehouse, with Tony flying after it.

Natasha stood up on her good leg and started to limp after it.

"Natasha, you'll get killed."

She turned to see Clint looking at her sternly.

"Clint, I can't just sit here and do nothing because of one bad leg." She started to limp after the monster, hating how pathetic she must have looked.

"Wait, Nat." Suddenly Clint grabbed turned her towards him and grabbed the back of her head, gazing into her hazel eyes with a serious expression. He knew he wasn't going to be able to argue with her. So instead he decided he had to steal this moment while he could. He was going to seize the opportunity to convey how he really felt about her before they were both killed.

"Clint –" Natasha's words were cut off as Clint's lips crashed down onto hers. He kissed her roughly yet passionately, as if he were pouring every thought that was never spoken into this one moment. Natasha's eyes flew open wide and her body tensed with surprise. A second later Clint released her, gave her a knowing look, and then ran off towards the monster, leaving Natasha frozen where she stood.

"Hawkeye, try to take out its other eye!" Steve yelled. "Stark, have you found a weak spot?"

Tony was in the middle of flying underneath it, having to swerve to avoid its powerful tail and legs. "No! This thing is covered in some sort of rough armor. JARVIS, help me out here."

A digital scan of the monster showed up on Tony's HUD. "I cannot detect any vulnerability either, Mr. Stark," JARVIS stated. Tony could have sworn he detected a hint of concern in the AI's reply.

Tony dodged another swing of the monster's paw and shot at it before flying back up to face its head.

Steve took a blow to the side and doubled over, breathing heavily. "We can't let it get to the Whitehouse! I'm not sure if everyone has evacuated yet!"

Thor suddenly smashed Mjӧlnir down onto the monster's tail. The monster made another loud noise and whipped its head around, moving quite quickly for such an enormous creature. Its paw came down on top of the Hulk, who caught it and pushed against it with all his strength in attempt to steer clear of being squashed underneath it.

"Nothing we're doing is going to be enough! Even when it's blinded, it's too much!"

"Guys, the monster's just a distraction; there are more Exitium members chasing down members of the Whitehouse as we speak!"

Tony's was the first to respond. "Romanoff? Where are you?"

"Trying to save our president! They've stopped the metro that was supposed to take him and other members of Congress out of the city."

Natasha was taking on over ten armed people at once, all on a shattered shin. She couldn't let them get inside the president's train car. Why couldn't he have just gone off in a private helicopter or something?

She was using everything in her power against them; the weapons in her catsuit, as well as all the strength and skill she had in her, but it was no use on a broken leg.

Natasha cursed as she was suddenly hit hard from the side and pinned against the wall. The same burning sensation from before reentered her body, and her muscles locked up.

"What is happening?" she coughed.

"You're being controlled by our minds," one of Exitium answered her before yanking her hair back. He placed a knife at the base of her exposed neck. "You're powerless against us," he whispered into her ear. Natasha hissed and a shudder ran down her spine. She tried to struggle against him but found that she still couldn't move. The knife cut into her skin just enough to draw a thin line of blood, which trickled down her chest and seeped into her clothes.

Everyone except her captor ran into the metro, straight towards the president.

"_No!_"

* * *

Tony was getting worried about Natasha, but he didn't have time to be distracted from the task at hand. The monster was destroying the city, smashing buildings and setting fire to anything and everything flammable. Tony shot his laser across its body, only to be told by JARVIS that that would be virtually useless.

Tony huffed in frustration, feeling his energy begin to wane. He wasn't going to be able to keep this up for too much longer. He kept making attacks, but nothing seemed to even make a scratch on the monster. The monster then suddenly jumped up and practically flew through the air to the other side of the city. Tony was the only one who could keep up with it, so he dashed after it.

Suddenly the beast began to transform again, this time getting smaller and more human-like. Tony's heart stopped.

"Are you going to kill me, Tony?"

The monster was gone. Pepper was standing in front of him now, looking at him with fearful eyes.

Tony froze.

_'Kill it now! That's not Pepper, it's the monster! Kill it!'_

Angry tears formed in Tony's eyes. He aimed his repulsor at the woman in front of him, but all he could see was his girlfriend's face staring pleadingly back at him.

Tony was shaking, feeling like he was literally falling apart. He knew it wasn't her. But he just couldn't shoot. The haunting memory of his nightmare suddenly played across his mind. He had killed Pepper in his dream. And now he was faced with the same situation.

_'No! Make it stop! Please!'_

It was all he could do to stay standing upright. He felt like someone was reaching into his mind and toying with it, like someone was stabbing him right through the heart.

_'I have to shoot. Shoot it now! Do it, you coward!'_

The tears streamed down Tony's face.

_'I can't do it.'_

The monster suddenly jumped at him and tore his helmet off in one swift movement, grinning evilly at Tony's tortured expression. Pepper's eyes gazed into his. Then suddenly she caught her hand on fire and shoved it into the Iron Man chest piece. The metal around the flaming hand quickly melted. Tony's breath caught as she latched her fingers onto his arc reactor and twisted it. She paused for a moment, letting the realization hit Tony, before she ripped the arc reactor right out of his chest and crushed it in her hand.

Tony's breath hitched. He tried to scream but couldn't. His heart was racing at twice its normal rate, as if it were trying to beat as much as it could before it ceased to function. He could feel himself fading.

He wasn't sure, but Tony thought he could faintly hear someone shouting. Then, through his dimming vision, he saw the monster that wore Pepper's body stiffen, its eyes widening. Blood leaked out of its mouth. And then it dropped to the ground.

The sight of Hawkeye standing over the monster-Pepper, which was lying facedown in the grass and covered in blood, was the last thing Tony saw before he fell unconscious.

* * *

**A/N: Yet another cliffhanger! *evil laughter* I promise I'll stop doing that now. Tell me what you think of this chapter :). By the way the monster thing was inspired by the character Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist.**


	20. The Brink of Defeat

Tony opened his eyes and was temporarily blinded by the bright sunlight that surrounded him. He could hear the sound of water washing on a shore, and the air smelled salty. Was he... was he on a beach?

Tony shifted his eyes to the side. Sand stretched out as far as the eye could see. Now that he was regaining some feeling, he noticed his feet felt wet.

_'What is going on?'_

Tony racked his brain, trying to remember how he got here. Slowly, memories started coming back to him. He had been fighting with the team in D.C..., there was some sort of monster...

He suddenly gasped and looked down at his chest and was shocked to see that the arc reactor wasn't there. Not only that, but his chest was completely normal. There was no gaping hole, or any sign that he had even had an arc reactor there to begin with.

_'How is that even possible? And where the hell am I?'_ Tony tried to keep the panic at bay, but it started to overwhelm him as he realized he couldn't stand up. He couldn't even move his fingers.

_'Well, that's just great. Can't even move my own hand. Now what?'_

The tide surged up the shore, ebbing around him and pulling at him gently as if trying to coax him into the ocean's inky waters. Tony closed his eyes. He should let the water take him, let it pull him in and take him away from this nightmare.

_"Tony? Don't die on me, Tony, please, I know you're still there!"_

Tony perked up a little. That voice sounded very familiar...

_'Pepper,'_ his subconscious supplied for him.

Pepper was here? But he couldn't see her. There was no one here but him.

_"Please, come back. Tony, please, don't leave me like this."_

Tony wanted to scream. _'I'm here, Pepper! I'm here, I can hear you. I just don't know how to get back to you.'_

He tried to move his feet, but again he found that his muscles weren't responding to his brain's command. The only thing he seemed to be able to control were his eyes. He felt completely trapped within his own body.

_'Come on. Move!' _He had to break this barrier. He had to get back to Pepper. It would be much easier just to give up, but he couldn't. Now that he heard Pepper's voice, he wouldn't let himself surrender.

Tony focused all of his brainpower on moving his muscles, concentrating so hard he was sure he felt a headache creeping in. But it wasn't working. He wasn't sure how long he lay like that; it felt like hours, when it could have only been seconds. It didn't matter. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't will any part of his body to move.

What was the point, anyway? If he was finally able to stand up, _then_ what would he do? He had no idea where he was, and no idea how to get back to Pepper and the others. Would he just wander the shores alone until his weak, worn-out body buckled and collapsed in the sand again?

It was irrational and stupid to keep trying, and he knew it. But the thought of Pepper gave him the smallest bit of hope that he needed, gave him enough willpower to give it one more shot. Tony squeezed his eyes shut and, in a last-ditch and desperate effort, tried one more time to break out of this paralysis he was in. But again there was no response. It all looked hopeless.

And then his finger twitched.

* * *

_'I'm too late.'_

Clint looked down at Stark and could practically see the life draining out of him. Without his arc reactor, he didn't know how much time his teammate had left. A few minutes? Seconds?

The archer quickly notified Fury about the emergency, silently praying that there was some way to save Tony, and that someone would come to his aid. But as for him, he had to go help the others. Exitium was still attacking the president and the Congressmen, and there was nothing he could do for Tony right now.

Clint pulled his arrow out of the monster he had just killed, smirking triumphantly. He took much pleasure in seeing that bastard's dead body in front of him. Though it did disturb him that it still took Pepper's form. That didn't last long, however, because as soon as he pulled out the arrow, the monster's shape began to change yet again, but this time it was like it was falling apart. It was disappearing, as if disintegrating into thin air.

Confused as he was, Clint had no time to think about it. He rushed off towards the metro station where the rest of the team was fighting the remaining Exitium members. Before he had gone too far, he threw a glance behind his shoulder and saw Pepper rushing to Tony's side. _'I hope she can pull off a miracle,' _he thought, and then he kept running.

* * *

Pepper couldn't stop the river of tears that was pouring out of her eyes. Most of the teardrops were landing on Tony's colorless face since she was leaning over him, begging for him to wake up.

"Don't die on me, Tony, please, I know you're still there!" _'He can't be gone. He can't just die...'_

The past few minutes were a blur of confusion, fear, and chaos to Pepper. The Helicarrier never travelled too far away from the city, but they distanced themselves enough so that she couldn't exactly tell what was going on. She was all nerves as she sat and waited for this mess to be over and out of their lives. She had been curled up in her little bed when she'd gotten the notice from Coulson. He practically burst into the room, looking urgent and panicked.

"Ms. Potts, Hawkeye just contacted me; Stark is dying. The arc reactor... you don't happen to know how to..."

Pepper had felt like she was going to be sick. "What happened? What's wrong with the reactor?" she managed to squeak.

"I'm not sure exactly what happened. All I know is that the reactor is broken, or something, and he's not going to make it much longer."

Pepper hadn't needed to hear any more. She jumped up and ran past Coulson and through the long corridor to her left until she reached Tony's Iron Man unit. She scoured the area frantically, praying that Tony had a spare reactor around somewhere. Much to her relief she found one, and she silently thanked the gods that not all hope was lost just yet.

The next fifteen seconds consisted of yelling and arguing over sending her into the battle zone to try to save Tony, which she ended up winning. She was flown by helicopter into the city. As soon as she'd found Tony, she had rushed to his side. Hawkeye waited for her, and when she arrived he mentioned something about Natasha and the president and hurriedly left.

Pepper didn't take notice of any of her surroundings at all. All she could see was Tony, who was sprawled on the ground. There was no arc reactor in his chest. Pepper quickly held out the reactor she had brought from the ship and placed it in the hold in his chest, twisting it slightly until it clicked into place. It hummed to life and glowed blue. She held her breath as she waited for him to come back, to wake up and crack a stupid joke and tell her that everything was going to be okay. But minutes passed, and nothing was happening. She couldn't even detect a pulse, or see the rise and fall of his chest that would tell her he was alive. There was nothing. She was too late.

Now she was kneeling over Tony, hoping for a miracle. His body was growing cold. Pepper couldn't wrap her brain around this pale, inert version of him. Tony was always so lively; such a sarcastic, arrogant, eccentric pain in the ass. It seemed impossible for someone like him to suddenly be... gone.

Pepper's voice was hoarse and quivery now as the hope began to slip out of her reach. "Please come back. Tony, please, don't leave me like this. I love you, don't leave me." She knew it was pointless to talk to him, but silence was haunting. "Please don't let him die. Please. _Please_." She didn't even know who she was pleading to; she just kept mumbling the word over and over, repeating it so many times that it eventually formed on her lips mechanically without her even needing to think about it.

She was about to give up and find a way to get both her and Tony's body back onto the Helicarrier when suddenly something caught her eye. It was the tiniest of movements, so small she wasn't sure if she had actually seen it or if her mind was just playing tricks on her. But just like that, a little bit of optimism was restored. She wished with all her being that the little movement she had seen was real, and that she didn't get her hopes up only to have her heart broken; she thought she noticed Tony's finger twitch.

"Tony?"

* * *

Tony groaned and opened his eyes, trying to focus his blurred vision. He couldn't make out much detail, but the one thing he did know for sure was that he was not on a beach anymore. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant for him, but it was reassuring that he wasn't stuck in the same place as before. That had to be a good sign, right?

He was about to try to get up when he heard a sharp intake of breath, and someone shouted his name. Then there was a crash as something clamored to the ground, and a second later he felt a pair of arms around his torso.

Pepper had just walked in carrying a tray of food, which she had immediately dropped when she saw that Tony was waking up. She flung herself around him, her hair splaying across his body, and buried her head into his chest. Tears brimmed in her eyes, but she didn't let them spill over. "Oh, Tony." Pepper curled her fingers around the fabric of Tony's shirt.

Tony winced when Pepper touched an especially sensitive spot on his side, where he assumed a large bruise had formed in his skin.

"Pepper?"

He sat up slightly, leaning on his elbows, and looked around. He was back in his temporary bedroom in the Helicarrier. _'So I'm not dead?'_

Pepper pulled back a little to look at him expectantly. "How do you feel?" she asked delicately.

"What happened?" he uttered.

Pepper wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, opening and closing her mouth a few times as if unable to decide what to say. She settled on the words, "I thought I'd lost you." She cast her gaze downwards.

Tony straightened up and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay. I'm here."

"But you almost died, Tony. You were so... cold and motionless. It was terrifying."

_'I know how you felt,'_ Tony said internally, thinking back to when Pepper was lying half-dead in the hospital. "It's okay," he repeated.

It was then that Tony realized his chest felt tight. He put a hand over it and gasped.

"I found the spare reactor you were keeping here," Pepper said in answer to his unspoken question.

"I knew keeping a spare was going to pay off sooner or later," Tony murmured. "I'm a genius."

At any other time, Pepper would have laughed and rolled her eyes at his cockiness. But now her concern was too great, and she couldn't bring herself to be amused. "Really, Tony... are you okay?"

"Yeah." In truth, he couldn't really think straight. His mind was racing, and he felt disoriented and achy.

_The battle. _ Tony's heart jumped into his throat. "Where are the others? What's going on with Exitium? Pepper –"

"I – they're handling it, Tony. Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"I'm sure." He was betrayed by a pang of hunger that caused his stomach to growl obnoxiously. He ignored it and stumbled out of the room with Pepper following close behind him. He got lightheaded and his vision blacked out for a second before he regained focus and pressed forward.

"Tony, you should lie down and take it easy," she said insistently as she reached for his arm.

Tony didn't respond to Pepper. Instead he made his way into the control center, where at least twenty people were bustling around the room. Some were frantically working on computers while others were on their phones or talking with each other – actually, 'arguing' was probably a more accurate word.

"What's going on?" Tony demanded. Suddenly computers went black and fuzzy and then all changed to a clear video feed.

"We've lost control of the systems," someone exclaimed as they tapped at a keyboard.

Everyone quieted and gazed in curiosity and confusion at the computers. Tony edged closer to one of the screens and leaned in to get a better view. Gasps of shock echoed throughout the room as everyone comprehended what they were seeing.

_"Isn't it ironic that the most powerful beings that ever existed have now fallen, defeated, at our feet?"_

Tony couldn't believe what he was watching. The Avengers and the president were all at the front steps of the Whitehouse, kneeling on the floor as if trying to resist against an invisible force. Exitium had captured them all. Even Bruce had been forced back into his human form and was subjecting to Exitium's power. Thor looked to be the only one who had a chance at breaking out of their hold since he was an Asgardian, but right now he was also struggling to move.

"No," Tony breathed. This couldn't be happening.

It was evident that they were all exhausted, but Tony could see in their expressions that they were still determined to keep fighting and hopefully make it out alive. It was at least a little reassuring that none of them had given up; even Natasha, who looked like she was in extreme pain, refused to be defeated.

_"Look at your heroes now. They are pathetic and weak. They are nothing!"_

There was a crowd of Exitium members around them in the front lawn of the Whitehouse. Five of them were standing away from the crowd up at the top of the stairs with the rest of the Avengers, facing a video camera with victorious looks on their faces. They looked to be the ones who had the superheroes under their control.

_"It is time for you to yield to a new rule."_

Tony couldn't watch this anymore. He had to get down there and help them before they were all killed.

"Pepper, where's my suit?"

Pepper, who had gone pale as she witnessed what was going on at the Whitehouse, turned to Tony. "It's a little... messed up, Tony," she admitted. "I had to pry you out of it..."

"Is it completely non-functional? Is it irreparable?"

"I don't know, but –"

"I _have_ to get down there, Pepper!"

"You're in no shape to fight, Tony! You're not even completely healed from -"

"I'm fine!" he protested angrily.

Pepper matched his fierce tone, but hers was also laced with desperation. "Please, listen to me, you need to just –"

"Just _what_? Stay here and let my friends die?" Tony yelled. He looked on the verge of hysteria.

Pepper looked heartbroken and unnerved and miserable. She hated arguing with Tony, but she couldn't let him fight. He would surely die if he tried to fight in his current condition.

Tony knew Pepper had been through a lot in the past, like facing Stane and Hammer and Vanko. But he had never heard such anxiety in her voice or seen such fear in her eyes. And it wasn't that she was scared for her own safety. It was never about her; she was scared for Tony. It was awful to see how much worry he caused her, but this wasn't something he could just walk away from.

"Stark, I think Ms. Potts is right. You're too weak right now; you'll get killed."

Tony shot an icy glare at Fury. He was well aware of the risk, and he was willing to take it. He thought Fury of all people would understand that and be on his side. "_They're_ being killed as we speak! My team! You don't expect me to just sit back and watch –"

"Look, Stark, I highly advise you stay out of harm's way. Agent Coulson and Agent Hill are already flying out in helicopters to help handle the situation."

"That won't be enough!" Tony seethed.

Tony seemed to be the only one who recognized that it was his duty as Iron Man to fight; to either win the battle or die trying. That was his purpose, it was what he was meant to do, and he wasn't going to let a little injury get in his way. Nothing could sway him from that decision. Not even Pepper's pleas.

He had to try.

* * *

**A/N: I know it's been like two and a half million years since I last updated, and I'm really sorry! Like I said, this month has been a busy one for me. So, what do you think of this chapter? That's not too bad of a cliffhanger, right? I know I promised to avoid them from now on but it's kinda difficult at this point in the story. I tried my best! Tell me what you think :)**


	21. Battle of DC, Part Three

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm in Hawaii right now but I'm still going to try to update as much as possible. Also, I think I should make an apology to the people who like to have warnings of character death in the plot summaries... because guess what? There's going to be a character death. Surprise! Maybe I should've mentioned that earlier, but in my defense I didn't know I was going to do it until pretty recently. Just brace yourselves. Don't forget to review :) ****And another thing: the battle will be over soon, and then it'll be time to finish up this fic. Thanks to all my readers! You're all awesome!**

* * *

The only reason Natasha was still standing was because she was being forced to. Those freaks were controlling them with their minds again. For the first time since she joined SHIELD, she actually felt terrified. Admittedly, she had been afraid before (though she would never let the fear show). But this was different. This was something she had never experienced before. She had never felt so helpless.

The member of Exitium who was standing closest to her gave her a disgustingly smug look before flicking his pointer finger at her, and suddenly Natasha's head was yanked back. It horrified her to know that they could do whatever they wanted to her by just waving their hands at her. They were utilizing some kind of magic to manipulate them, and there was no way to fight it. The wound at the base of her neck started to bleed again at the sudden movement, and a tear formed in her eye. Another flick of the enemy's hand made her already-damaged shoulder twist, and she bit down on her tongue to keep from crying out.

Exitium was going on about creating a new nation under their rule, and they were making a show of torturing her and the other Avengers to prove that they were superior. Natasha let out a short, bitter laugh. They were just like Loki; trying to make a theatrical demonstration of their destroying and taking over the city.

Natasha then heard the chopping sound of a helicopter coming near them. She tried to look up and was extremely frustrated when she couldn't. Exitium had complete control of her muscles.

"Stand down now, or we'll open fire from every weapon we have." It was Coulson's voice that was blaring through a speaker from the helicopter. Natasha didn't have to look to know that the helicopter was very heavily armed, with every weapon pointed in their direction. She hoped he was excellent at aiming. Or that he would fire into the Exitium crowd instead of the few of them who were standing up on the Whitehouse steps with her and the rest of the team.

No one moved in response to Coulson's threat, and Natasha was unsure of what was going to happen next. For a moment, everything was eerily still and quiet.

Then all hell broke loose. Tons of shots were fired from the helicopter, which broke Exitium's concentration and caused them to release their holds on the Avengers. Bruce immediately Hulked out and Thor retrieved his hammer. Clint grabbed his bow and began firing as many arrows as he could into the sea of Exitium members. Steve jumped into the action, taking on three people at once and then running off to get the president to safety. Natasha sprung up on her good leg and was instantly faced with opposition. She blocked a blow to the side with her left arm, grabbed her attacker's elbow, and flipped him over her head before turning and facing off with someone else. The pain in her leg was becoming unsurmountable as she kept putting strain on it, but she pushed the sharp ache to the back of her mind.

As she was fighting, she saw a member of Exitium focus in on a pillar of the Whitehouse with her mind, yank it out of the building, and haul it through the air towards Coulson's helicopter. It hit the tail of the helicopter, and the aircraft began to spin out of control and sail downwards in a plume of smoke. Natasha cursed.

Another flying object soared towards them, and Natasha frowned in confusion, trying to make out what it was. Then she realized it was Stark. Her eyes widened; he had gone missing… she thought he might be dead.

Tony flew as fast as he could towards the Whitehouse, and though he was a bit wobbly, he made it in less than a minute. _'Not bad,'_ he complimented himself. He had made quick repairs to the suit and flown off the Helicarrier against orders from Fury and from Pepper. And honestly, it was Pepper's wrath he feared the most upon his return to safety. Well, his _potential_ return to safety. _'She's going to kill me for this. That is, if I don't die here first.'_

Tony landed on one knee in the middle of the Whitehouse's front lawn, surprising everybody around him and creating a significant hole in the ground. He stood up slowly, enjoying the looks of alarm that slowly crossed everyone's faces. If there was one thing he knew how to do well as Iron Man, it was present himself in an overpowering way and strike fear into people.

Taking advantage of the few moments of stunned silence, Tony fired his repulsors at the enemies around him. He ducked under an incoming piece of debris that flew at his head from the side and thrust himself into the air, landing next to Hawkeye.

"Stark? You're okay!" Clint exclaimed, clearly shocked to see Tony alive.

"More or less," Tony deadpanned. He swung his arm at someone who was advancing towards him and knocked him back at least twenty feet. To his right, Bruce and Thor were working together to take out a huge group of people who were still using their telekinetic abilities as a force against the superheroes. Ahead of him, Natasha was beating up two people at once. "How is it possible for her to have a broken leg and still kick ass?" Tony wondered aloud in awe as he fired at an incoming enemy, earning an amused chuckle from Hawkeye.

"That's Natasha for you." She never ceased to amaze Clint with her strength and skill, both mentally and physically.

Tony kept fighting alongside Clint, and it was finally looking like the battle would be over soon. Exitium's numbers were dwindling quickly, and the Avengers seemed to have the upper hand, even against Exitium's unearthly powers.

Clint went to shoot another arrow and froze when he realized his quiver was empty. "Stark, I'm out of arrows!"

All in a matter of just two seconds, Tony pulled the nearest arrow out of someone's shoulder, quickly turned, and extended his arm to hand it to Clint, who whipped around, set it in the bow, and released it. The arrow sailed forward and stuck right through someone's eye.

Tony turned and caught another glimpse of Natasha, but this time she looked like she was struggling. Someone had her pinned down with a murderous glare in their eyes.

"Romanoff needs help!" Tony shouted. Clint immediately ran towards her, tripping and almost falling over something that was in his way, and knocked her attacker out with his bow.

"You alright?" he asked her, breathing heavily.

Natasha nodded and gave him a lopsided smile. "I'm okay."

He reached a hand out and tried to help her slowly stand back up. She was unsteadily rising back to her feet when suddenly something pierced her from behind.

Clint's heart faltered, and time seemed to stop. Natasha's body stiffened. Her eyes became unfocused and glazed-over, and then they rolled in the back of her head. Blood was practically pouring out of her side. And then she collapsed.

"Oh, god, Nat!" Clint broke her fall with his arms and lowered her to the ground. "No!"

Clint couldn't believe what he was seeing. Natasha's skin grew paler and colder by the second. Blood seeped from her wound, creating a crimson color in the grass. Her eyes were wide but unseeing, and a strangled sound came from her throat.

The rest of the world fell away as Clint gazed down at the woman he loved. He had always admired her. She was strong-willed, talented, independent, and that's what he found the most remarkable about her. They had been partners for years, ever since he spared her life in Budapest and she joined SHIELD. But she was more than a partner. Most of all, she was his friend. Sometimes when he felt alone, or when he felt like he was going to crumble under the stress of a mission, she was there to remind him that things would get better. He had never felt so comfortable or happy around anyone else. Really, she was the only one he truly trusted. They shared a bond that no one else could experience, and that Clint had never felt with anybody other than his Natasha. Over the years that bond had turned into something more for Clint. He was in love with her. And now she was fading out of his life.

Clint couldn't even remember the last time he cried. Years of training to be a deadly assassin had molded him into someone who shut out any emotions that threatened to play at his mind. He had been taught to just focus on the goal of the mission, do just what he needed to accomplish that goal, and move on without letting feelings interfere with anything. But now that emotionless facade was broken. He felt a hot tear roll down his cheek, followed by an endless river of tears. He reached down and gently caressed Natasha's beautiful face, brushing back a strand of her red hair and pressing his lips to her forehead, as she breathed her last breath. Her body relaxed and she lay still and silent in his arms.


	22. Loki

Loki slowly paced the floor of his little cell with his hands crossed behind his back. Those idiots had given him too much freedom in here. Enough freedom for him to make contact with Earth and manipulate those ignorant humans into creating chaos and imbalance. And no one had even noticed except Thor, who had been keeping a close watch on him since they returned from New York, but he had noticed too late. Loki was simply too sneaky and secretive and smart. A satisfied grin spread across his face. This was just too easy.

Now he was calmly and patiently watching the battle of Washington D.C. He was peering through his little portal that he had mustered up the energy and material to create. It was like a movie projection, or a magic crystal ball. He could view from afar everything that was going on down on Earth. And he was quite enjoying it. Though he did regret not being able to be there himself.

Everything seemed to be going well, until the archer killed his monster. And the monster had also failed to end Stark's life. Loki's grin disappeared and was replaced with a frown. His little puppets made a major mistake with that one. He sighed sharply. You can never trust humans to do anything right. But they were all he had, so they would have to do for now.

As much as Loki loathed to admit it, he was disappointed almost to the point of sadness to see Thor fighting alongside those Avenger freaks. If only he saw what Loki saw in all of this; the potential to create an even better Earth under Asgardian rule. Thor could have been his partner, his brother, and helped him in this noble quest. But no. It had come to this again, just like in New York not too long ago. When Loki wanted something, he refused to let anything stand in his way. Even if it meant taking Thor down. It truly was a shame.

Another ecstatic smile crossed Loki's features when he watched the redheaded assassin die, and he laughed quietly to himself. Now his puppets were making some progress. Then again, the soldier was making things difficult by helping the president escape. Nevertheless, Loki was sure the battle would shortly be won, and Exitium would begin to reconstruct the country. They'd better finish this job quickly though, before the powers he had bestowed upon them began to wear off. Without the powers, they would surely lose the fight. They would revert back to their natural pathetic and weak states, no better than a drizzle of rain going up against a spewing volcano.

Even with that slight possibility of failure in mind, Loki was confident. Soon enough, he would find a way out of this prison and take his place as ruler of America and later the entire Earth.

Soon, but not yet.

* * *

**A/N: So... This is probably the shortest chapter in the history of short chapters. Oops.**


	23. The Final Blow

**A/N: My life is so crazy right now omg I'm starting college aaaaahhh! I'm super excited but super busy. Sooo I finally got a new chapter in for this fic, which is so close to finished. I have my idea for a new fic that I'll be writing yay but I can't tell you what it is yet because its a surprise :)**

* * *

_'Jeez, how long can these guys fend us off?'_ Tony was getting exhausted, and his injuries were beginning to take a toll on his ability to fight. It seemed like the battle was going nowhere; they were locked in a stalemate, and that wasn't good.

"JARVIS, how are we on power?"

"The suit's power is currently at thirty-seven percent and declining rapidly."

Yeah, this was definitely not good.

Tony had seen Romanoff struggling and watched Clint go to help her, but he was forced to pull away from the area to deflect an onslaught of assaults, so he wasn't sure what happened to her. He hoped she and Clint were okay.

"Cap, give me an update," Tony demanded through his earpiece.

Rogers answered almost immediately. "The president and all other captives are out of the battle zone. They're a safe distance away from the city. I'm coming back towards the Whitehouse. How is everyone else holding up?"

Tony scanned the expanse around him and decided on the words, "Pretty well… I think. But we could use your help."

"I'm headed back right now."

Just then Tony heard Thor's voice through his earpiece. "Is anyone else noticing that Exitium's power seems to be dwindling?" The Hulk roared and took out a group of people that he had been fighting with in one swipe, and Tony blasted three people at once with ease.

Tony nodded slowly in surprise. "Um, I didn't notice that until just now, but yeah, they do seem to be getting weaker. Got any speculation on that?"

"None that I can think of," Thor replied. "But that doesn't matter. All I care about is taking advantage of it."

"Agreed." Tony flew to the side to see if anyone needed any help and went face-to-face with another enemy. He could feel his muscles start to lock up again, but this time the attempt was much feebler, and Tony found that it was way easier to resist Exitium's telepathic control. "What, you getting tired?" he taunted.

"Wait, please, don't shoot!" the man suddenly pleaded with a pitiful and terrified expression on his face. "I – I have a wife and kids at home, I –"

Tony had heard that one before. Yet he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for this broken-down man. _'Then why are you here?' _he thought. What would make someone like him, who obviously had so much to lose, agree to join this group of psychopaths trying to overthrow the government by force?

He was about to make a decision on his next move when his thoughts were interrupted by Barton's voice. At first Tony was relieved to hear the archer speaking into his earpiece; he hadn't heard from him since he left to help Natasha. But that relieve disappeared as quickly as it came once he actually processed what he was saying. "Agent Romanoff is dead." The words bounced around in Tony's head, echoing through his mind but not making sense. Romanoff couldn't be dead. That was impossible! In the short time that Tony had known her, she had always been so strong and confident… The words 'Romanoff' and 'dead' didn't even seem like they should be in the same sentence. Yet Hawkeye had just spoken them.

All at once it seemed like the Avengers froze in shock. The man in front of Tony took that opportunity to make a run for it, and Tony didn't care. "Coward," he muttered. Just then, Rogers appeared and swiftly knocked the escapee out with his shield. "There you are."

The soldier walked over to Tony, who lifted his facemask. "Is it true Natasha is dead?" he asked quietly. His voice was emotionless, but his eyes were sad. Rogers was used to seeing people die – he had been surrounded by death during World War Two. But something was different this time. After Bucky died all those years ago, Steve had tried to distance himself from people as much as he could, because it was too excruciating to endure watching friends die. But he had let himself become close to Natasha. And now the all-too-familiar pain was returning.

Tony didn't say anything in reply to Rogers' question. It was then that he noticed Agent Coulson and Agent Hill standing at Cap's shoulder. His eyes were immediately drawn to the deep cut on Agent Hill's forehead, and he winced.

"We jumped out of the helicopter before it hit the ground," Coulson answered Tony's unspoken query. "Steve found us and helped us back here." Coulson jumped when a bolt of lighting shot down from the sky far to their left. The remaining members of Exitium seemed to be concentrated over there, where Thor and Banner were. "He certainly loves that hammer of his."

"What's the situation?" Agent Hill asked. She had one hand resting on the gun that was holstered at her hip.

Tony and Steve exchanged a glance before Tony said, "Agent Romanoff is down. Rogers moved all the politicians to safety, and Exitium's powers seem to be dying out."

Appalled looks crossed both of the agents' faces when Tony broke the news about Natasha, and Coulson tried and failed to regain his composure.

Suddenly he heard the Hulk let out a roar that sounded a little distressed, so Tony slammed his facemask back down and flew off away from the Whitehouse to help him out. "Rogers, come with me!" he demanded.

"You two should get back to the Helicarrier," Steve said to the two agents, and then he sprinted off behind Tony.

There was a group of Exitium surrounding Banner and hitting him with everything they had. Tony landed close to them, and his brain scrambled to come up with an idea. Rogers caught up with him and stopped across from him at the others side of the large cluster of people. Then Tony caught sight of Thor, and then a plan entered his mind. "Point Break, hit me with some lighting!"

Thor turned to him, and Tony actually chuckled at the fact that the god had answered to 'Point Break.' "Why?"

"Just do it! And Cap, help me out here. Hold your shield up." Rogers looked slightly confused but complied anyway.

Thor thrust his hammer into the air, and a crack of lightning shot down from the sky. He gave Tony a look as if to ask if he was ready, and then he threw the lightning at him.

Tony braced himself for the impact and then felt the energy surge through his suit. He stumbled back a few steps.

"Power at 360 percent capacity, sir."

Tony smirked in satisfaction. "That's exactly what I was hoping to hear, JARVIS."

Tony quickly turned towards Rogers and fired through his chest piece. The repulsor beam shot straight through half of the Exitium mass, instantly wiping out people in the line of fire, and hit Cap's shield at the perfect angle.

Instead of deflecting off the shield and back into the crowd, though, the repulsor power exploded when it made contact with it. Everyone was thrown backwards off their feet, save for the Hulk. Tony was tossed through the air, and he hit the ground hard and rolled on the ground with a surprising momentum before finally landing on his back with a grunt. "Ow."

"Power now at eleven percent. Might I suggest –?"

"JARVIS just stop talking." Tony slowly stood up, his armor clanking as he did so, and groaned in pain. "I need to install cushioning in here or something."

But that thought was pushed straight to the back of his mind when he opened his eyes. Where there were once buildings and people around him, there was nothing. Structures had been reduced to rubble. The only ones left standing were he, Cap, Thor, and Bruce; everyone else was just… gone. As if obliterated from the face of the planet. Tony cringed to think what could have happened to Clint – a normal human with no armor – if he had been near them. It was hard to wrap his brain around; there was no one and nothing left.

Just like that, the battle was over.


	24. Black Roses

There was a dull yet constant and insufferable pain between Tony's shoulder blades, he felt so fatigued he could barely stand, and his suit was officially damaged beyond repair. But those were the least of his worries.

On the bright side, they had found Clint with Natasha's body; he hadn't been hurt by the explosion or any of the Exitium members. In fact, judging by the amount of arrows in people's bodies around him, it looked like he was the one doing the damage. Tony soon realized that was all probably out of anguish.

They all made it back to the Helicarrier and remained in the bridge in an uncomfortable silence. Coulson, Fury, and Hill took Natasha's body away to somewhere else in the ship. Bruce left to put some clothes on that would actually fit his human body, but everyone else stayed behind. No one knew what to do or say, which resulted in them just awkwardly standing there spread out in the room.

Clint was crouching and staring straight forward, his jaw clenched and his hands balled into fists. "She looked at me," he said in a low, gravelly voice. "I could see the fear in her eyes. As if she was pleading for me to save her." His fingernails were digging so hard into his palms that they drew little droplets of blood. "And I couldn't save her. I failed. Natasha is dead and it's my fault."

The tension in the room was nearly unbearable. Everyone's eyes were on Clint; they all wanted to say something but couldn't. Tony's throat felt tight, as if the words got stuck on the way out of his mouth.

Steve was the first one to find his voice. "Barton, please, don't blame yourself for her death. It wasn't your –"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Clint barked. "I DIDN'T SAVE HER. SHE'S DEAD BECAUSE OF ME."

"Don't say that! There's nothing you could have done! You're not responsible for what happened. Natasha wouldn't want you to beat yourself up over –"

Clint suddenly jumped up and lunged at Steve. Tony grabbed his arm before he could do anything aggressive. "_Who are you to say what Natasha would have wanted?!_" Clint had so many emotions and words building up inside that he couldn't even make sense of, and it was all bursting forth in angry attacks. He needed to get away from everyone, to sit and mourn in solitude for a while before he made things even worse. Tony released his hold on Clint, and Clint slid back onto the floor against the wall with his head in his hands, feeling spent.

Just then there was a new voice in the room that made Tony's heart jump. "Tony."

Tony, as well as the rest of the people in the room, turned to see Pepper standing in the doorway. A huge grin spread across Tony's face. Looking at her sent a flood of happiness through him, and he felt like her presence alone could heal all of his injuries. He was so overjoyed to see her.

His smile faded once he noticed Pepper's expression and body language. "Pep?" he said with a tone of panic in his voice. "What –?"

Tony hardly had time to react before she strode towards him in three long steps, put both hands firmly on his chest, and shoved him. "You _idiot!_" Tony stumbled backwards, preparing himself for Pepper's wrath, and was caught by surprise when she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Pepper?" He stood there in shock at her wildly different actions for a few moments before being able to hug her back. He coiled his arms around her waist and pressed her body closer to his. He didn't care that they had an audience at this point; all he cared about was Pepper, and the feel of her embrace.

"You're so stupid," she mumbled, her head buried in the crook of his neck. Her voice was thick, and Tony realized she was crying. Her teardrops fell onto his shoulder, creating a damp spot in his shirt.

"I know. I know, Pep."

Pepper pulled back to look at him, her arms still around him; she felt like she needed to be touching him right now, or he might just disappear from her. She was never going to let go.

"Please don't cry," Tony whispered. "I don't like seeing you cry." He gently wiped a tear away with his thumb before it could slide down her cheek.

"I thought I was going to lose you," Pepper croaked. Her teary, electric-blue eyes gazed into his soft, chocolate-brown ones. A silence spread between them, which was perfectly fine to Tony; he had no idea what to say to her. Neither of them even need words right now. Their eyes held all the words and emotions that they couldn't possibly verbally express.

Tony pulled her back into an embrace and held her close to him. "It's okay, baby. I'm right here. It's okay." He rested his head against hers and closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

Tony hated funerals. They were so depressing, and they just reminded him that his own clock was ticking, which he'd rather not think about. It was one of the reasons why he was so spontaneous and did such risky things; he figured he would have as much fun in life as he could before it was all over and wasted.

And everything was so… dark. Literally and figuratively. Right now he was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the color black that he was surrounded by. Everyone was dressed in black, holding black umbrellas (it had started raining, which put an even bigger damper on the mood), and everyone was holding a single rose of the color – you guessed it – black. Tony didn't even know roses existed in that color.

Tony stole a glance at Pepper, who looked solemn and saddened. Clint, who Tony expected to look on the verge of unraveling, was completely stone-faced through the entire service. The funeral consisted of the Avengers, SHIELD agents, and Pepper; Natasha really didn't have any other connections. Tony guessed that's what came with being an assassin.

Director Fury stood in front of the group to speak, and Tony directed his attention to him. He stood tall with his hands folded behind his back, ignoring the steady downfall of rain.

"Natasha Romanoff was one of the bravest people I've ever known. She was a woman of many names, and one of many skills. Few individuals will ever live up to her strength, her fearlessness, her determination, or her dedication. She was an important asset to our team, as well as a wonderful human being.

"One of the things I admired most about Natasha was her kindness. Despite her hardcore attitude that she embodied during her work as an assassin, she was a truly likeable person. Despite her past, she was able to rise up and move past the hardships and take a hold of her own life and become her own person. Underneath all of the false identities and undercover missions, the real Natasha remained. And that person was one of the best I've ever met. She will greatly be missed and never be forgotten.

"If there is one lesson that Natasha has left us with, it is that life is dangerous, and life is short; but you can't let that scare you away from living."

With that, Fury retook his place in the crowd that was gathered around Natasha's grave. One by one, everyone silently stepped forward and placed their rose on top of the coffin in which her body now resided. When it was Tony's turn, he slowly walked up to the edge of the hole and peered down into it. Seven flowers already rested on the coffin. He leaned forward and dropped his in, trying not to think about how he would never see Natasha again. Sure, they hadn't been the best of friends; but she still meant something to him, and honestly she had really been starting to grow on him.

Tony swallowed the lump of sadness that was rising in his throat and walked away.

At the end of the service, everyone made their way back home, or wherever else they may have been going. Tony was past the point of caring now. He gave Bruce a small smile before he departed. As he turned to leave, with one arm wrapped around Pepper's waist and the other holding up his umbrella, he glimpsed behind his shoulder and could make out Clint's silhouette kneeling by Natasha's grave.


	25. Simple Moment

"Tony, are you even listening to me? Hey!"

Pepper was looking at him impatiently, trying to get his attention while simultaneously sifting through a pile of papers and holding her cell phone between her ear and her shoulder. Tony abandoned his work on his new Iron Man suit, figuring it was probably better not to get on Pepper's nerves when she was already stressed-out and irritated, and turned towards her.

"I have about a million phone calls from news reporters and crazy people and _the federal government_ that I really need you to take care of. Like, now."

"The government?" he mouthed.

Pepper nodded at him while speaking into her phone and continuing to sort through papers. Tony was bewildered by her ability to multitask. Actually, it was one of the reasons he had hired her as his PA. "Yes, Mr. Stark will be making an official statement about what happened in D.C. and we are working things out with the reconstruction of the city… Yes, I realize that… No, you may not say anything about that until Mr. Stark himself provides an answer…"

It had been two days since Tony and Pepper had returned to their home in Malibu, and they're lives were as hectic as ever. Well, Pepper was the one dealing with most of the phone calls and emails and conferences. They'd hardly had any time to spend with each other yet.

He knew it was probably best not to, but Tony had turned on the news out of curiosity as soon as he got home. Sure enough, there were numerous stories airing about the Battle of D.C., with a lot of different opinions on the matter.

_"…miraculously, there were only a few civilian injuries and no civilian deaths during the fighting…"_

_ "…Captain America is seen by many as the true hero for saving the president, who has been quoted saying that without the Avengers, he surely would have been killed…"_

_"…still much speculation on what exactly they were fighting and who was behind it all. Witnesses say they saw some type of monster form in the middle of the National Mall, but the rumors have yet to be confirmed…"_

_"…left the nation's capital in ruins and weren't even good enough to save one of their own teammates…"_

_ "…the death of the Avenger known as Black Widow as surprised and appalled many…"_

_ "…it was Tony Stark, or perhaps better known as Iron Man, who delivered the final blow…"_

_ "…putting his girlfriend Pepper Potts in the line of fire. The CEO of Stark Industries had just recently returned from the hospital after being seriously injured during in Los Angeles only to face danger once again…"_

_ "…Avengers have proven to be our nation's saviors once again…"_

_ "…These so-called super-humans have caused more trouble than they've prevented…"_

Tony snapped out of his thoughts when Pepper raised her voice on the phone. She finished her conversation with an exasperated sigh and tried to take another call when Tony suddenly snatched the phone from her hand.

"Tony, that's not at all funny. Give it back," she demanded, holding her hand out and waggling her fingers at him.

Tony extended his arm so the phone was further out of her reach. She grabbed at it but Tony held her at bay with a hand on her shoulder. "You've been working non-stop since we got back. You deserve a break."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Tony, I don't have time for a break. Do you even know the immense amount of crap I'm dealing with right now? _You_ should be the one talking to all these people anyway."

"I promise I'll do everything I need to do," Tony said sincerely. "Honest. I just want to spend some time with you first." Pepper didn't look convinced, so he put on his best puppy-dog face. "Ten minutes. Please?"

Pepper gave in with a sigh. He was right; they'd hardly spent any time together since Tony went to L.A. for that celebration, which felt like ages ago. She knew she shouldn't just drop everything she was doing, but the temptation to finally relax a little was too great. "Alright, fine. Ten minutes."

Tony looked pleasantly surprised, as if he expected to have to argue a lot more in order to persuade her. "Well that was slightly uncharacteristic of you. Not that I'm complaining," he added quickly.

Pepper shrugged in a faux-blasé manner. "I figure I could take a break for a few minutes." Her phone started ringing again in Tony's hand, and Pepper took it and clicked ignore without even looking at it to prove she could relax without worrying about work.

"Great." He accented the word with a grin – not the trademark one she had been so used to seeing him give in public, but an actual genuine smile. A smile that was reserved only for her. Pepper couldn't help but grin back. Tony's smile was one of the things she found so irresistible about him.

They both headed up the stairs that led away from the workshop and into the living room. Pepper's high heels clicked on the floor with each step. The TV in the living room was still on, and it was currently showing footage of Tony lying practically dead on the ground. Pepper caught sight of it and grimaced, and her reaction didn't go unnoticed.

Tony muted the TV and then said, "Pep, I... I'm really sorry."

Pepper turned to look at him as she pulled off her shoes and sat down on the couch. She didn't bother to keep the biting tone out of her voice. "For what? Nearly getting yourself killed again and then going straight back out there to fight?"

Tony took a seat next to her and made a face at her accusation. "Yeah, that. I… I couldn't just abandon my team. But I realize what I put you through by doing that, and I hate myself for it."

Pepper softened her slightly rigid presence. "No, don't hate yourself. It's just that I love you so much. And I don't want to lose you. So next time you're on a mission, skip the suicide attempt, okay?"

"It wasn't – I just…" Tony sputtered, clearly at a loss for words. He backtracked on that sentence and thought of something else to say. "I would think you'd like it better without me here to drive you crazy," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Pepper's eyes met his. "I don't know what I'd do _without_ you here to drive me crazy," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

Tony leaned forward and captured her lips with his in a slow, soft, and affectionate kiss, and Pepper returned it with just as much emotion.

Without warning, tears sprang to Tony's eyes. "You're probably better off without me."

Pepper pulled away and gave him a shocked look. "What?"

Tony took a deep breath. This had been the thing that plagued his mind but he had never been able to say out loud. But he couldn't keep locking her out and hiding his feelings from her. He dreaded how she might react, but he wasn't going to change his mind. He spoke slowly, trying to word his sentences carefully. "I've put you through so much with my being Iron Man, and that's not fair to you. You deserve to be safe and happy, not constantly worrying about your own life or mine. I want what's best for you, and I –"

Tony's words were cut off when she suddenly kissed him again, more assertively this time.

"_You're _what's best for me, Tony. There's no one in the world I'd rather be with," Pepper said. "I know it's really hard sometimes for both of us, especially recently. But I don't want easy; I want _you_. I'd never give you up for anything. Ever. And I wouldn't ask you to give up anything for me. Okay?"

Tony nodded, his eyes averted. He was so lucky to have someone like her in his life. He scooted his body down so that he stretched across the length of the couch and pulled Pepper on top of him. She rested her head on his chest, listening to the hum of the arc reactor. Tony put his arms around her back and crossed his wrists, happy to finally have a couple minutes of serenity.

"Let's get out of here," Tony muttered.

"Hmm?"

"I need a break from Iron Man for a little while. _We_ need a break from... everything. Let's get out of the country. Just lay low, without any worries. You ever been to Bora Bora?"

Pepper laughed lightly. "That sounds really nice. But first we've got some things to take care of."

"Right," Tony said with a note of reluctance in his voice. _'Maybe my next invention should be something that makes annoying paperwork disappear.'_

Pepper made a move to stand up, but Tony kept a hand at her back. "Wait, not yet. Just a little longer," he said pitifully. All he wanted was a few more moments of them laying together like this.

And Pepper didn't argue.

* * *

**A/N: Keep those reviews coming :) I love hearing feedback from you guys (plus they're good motivation to keep writing). **


	26. The First of Forever

Tony paused in the middle of the staircase when he saw Pepper in the kitchen. The early morning light was shining in through the window, bathing the room in a soft glow and making her long hair appear golden in color. She had on one of Tony's old MIT shirts, which hung loosely on her tiny frame. She was pouring a cup of coffee and humming quietly to herself.

_'She is so beautiful,'_ Tony thought with a smile on his face.

Tony made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen as silently as possible, and then came up behind her and put his arms around her waist.

Pepper jumped at the unexpected touch, nearly spilling her coffee. "Jeez, Tony, you scared me."

Tony chuckled. "That was the point." He rested his chin on her shoulder.

"It's too early for that kind of thing," Pepper mumbled. Then she turned around in his arms to face him, leaning into his hand as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You want something to eat? I can make waffles?"

"No, you don't have to do that; just relax and enjoy your morning. We have cupcakes leftover from last night."

"Day-old cupcakes for breakfast, Tony?" Pepper said disapprovingly.

Tony shrugged. "Why not?" He reached behind her and picked up the box of cupcakes that was sitting on the counter by the stove. He plucked a cupcake from the box, peeled the wrapper off of it, and ate it. "You know you want one," he said, holding the box out towards Pepper tauntingly.

Pepper eyed the cupcakes and then gave in with a short sigh, reaching into the box and taking one with red icing on it.

"Told you," Tony said through a mouthful of cupcake.

Pepper shot him a look. "Oh, shut up."

"Well, I did."

Pepper, with her eyes still locked with Tony's, slowly ran her tongue along her lips to lick the icing off of them.

"You're doing that on purpose," Tony accused.

"Doing what?" Pepper asked innocently.

"You know." Tony took a step towards her. "And by the way, you missed a spot. Right here." He kissed the corner of her mouth. Pepper smirked and then reached up and guided his face to hers so that she could kiss him properly.

Pepper pulled away and leaned against him sleepily, and Tony combed his fingers through her hair.

After a moment Tony poured himself some coffee, and he and Pepper sat down at the kitchen table, enjoying the peace and quiet.

Pepper wrapped both hands around her coffee mug. Warmth travelled through her fingers and spread throughout the rest of her body. She caught Tony gazing at her and smiled into her mug, tapping her foot against his.

Tony smiled contently. "I could get used to this."

Pepper tilted her head in curiosity. "Get used to what?"

"Spending every morning with you."

* * *

"It's almost 7:00, Tony; didn't you say we need to leave at 7:00?"

Pepper was in the master bathroom fixing her hair while Tony finished getting dressed. She had pinned her strawberry-blonde locks up into an elaborate bun, with a few strands hanging down to frame her face. When she was satisfied with the way her hair looked, she put some perfume on and then applied some more lipstick.

Tony walked into the bathroom and stood behind her, putting his hands on her arms. Their eyes met through the mirror. "You look stunning," he murmured in her ear.

Pepper turned so that she was facing him. "You clean up pretty nice yourself, Mr. Stark." Tony really did look quite handsome when he dressed up like this. She always loved how sharp he looked in a tuxedo. Pepper also couldn't help but notice that the arc reactor wasn't even visible under the black jacket he was wearing. "But you still need to learn how to do your own tie." Tony chuckled as she reached up and adjusted his tie for him, which reminded them both of the days when she worked as his assistant.

Tony's eyes seemed to automatically gravitate towards the plunging neckline of Pepper's dress. She was wearing was a floor-length, deep-blue dress that hugged her curves and accentuated her slim figure. She looked absolutely radiant. He pecked the tip of her nose lightly so as to not mess up any of her makeup.

"You're wearing the necklace I bought you," he remarked happily.

"I told you I liked it," Pepper said with a smile. "Try not to look so proud of yourself," she then said when she noticed Tony's smugness.

"What? You know I'm not good at buying people gifts."

"That is very true," she responded in a pondering voice.

"Sir, Happy Hogan is ready with your car," JARVIS announced.

Pepper gave Tony's tie one last tug and smoothed her hand over his jacket before they headed downstairs and out the front door, where Happy was waiting for them.

"Can you at least give me a little hint as to where we're going?" Pepper complained as she slid into the car.

Tony pulled the door closed and turned towards her. "Nope."

"Please?" she said imploringly. The only thing Tony had told her was that they were going somewhere fancy for a big occasion, but for the life of her she could not think of what that occasion might be. She'd gone through her mental list of birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, but as far as she knew today was nothing special.

He shook his head, steadfast in his decision to keep everything a secret. "I wouldn't tell you anyway, but you can consider this payback for making me go to that benefit last week."

Pepper frowned. "Of course I made you go! That was all about _you_ helping to fix the mess that _you_ created in D.C."

Tony pursed his lips in annoyance. "It wasn't just me. Plus we saved the country; that ought to count for something."

"Sure it does. But you still have to help repair the city."

Last Friday Pepper had dragged him to a benefit that would help raise money for the renovation of the buildings that had been damaged in Washington, D.C. during the fighting. Pepper was also pushing Tony to go to the city and help with the actual physical labor when it came time for construction. He had also dealt with four different press conferences and given what felt like a million statements to news reporters, and he had even spoken with the president of the United States about the battle. Right now the police were conducting a full-blown investigation of what Exitium was exactly, and how they were able to shape-shift and use telekinetic powers. Tony remembered Thor mentioning something about Loki when he first met up with him, but he hadn't heard any more about that. He assumed Thor had gone back to Asgard. He hadn't actually spoken to any of the Avengers since Natasha's funeral over a month ago; for all he knew, everyone could be in completely different countries by now.

Happy started the car and started to pull out of the driveway. "Seatbelt, Tony," Pepper reminded him without even looking at him. It had become one of her many habits to nag Tony about seatbelts during the time she worked for him. Tony used to argue with her about it and claim that he would be fine without buckling up, but he quickly learned that Pepper wouldn't tolerate any of his crap and decided it would be a better idea to just comply without complaint.

They drove for miles down the coast into a town that Pepper had never actually visited before. It was actually kind of quaint – something she had definitely not expected, knowing Tony.

After a few more minutes, Happy pulled up to a beautiful-looking restaurant called _Bella Luna._ Tony got out of the car and walked around to the other side, opening Pepper's door for her and offering his hand for her to take.

The restaurant was definitely high-class, but in its own charming way. It had a homey feel while also looking very sophisticated. Classical music was playing throughout the restaurant, and the sound of murmuring conversations filled the room.

When they approached the hostess, Tony muttered something to her that Pepper couldn't quite make out.

"Ah, yes," the hostess replied with a nod. "Right this way."

Tony and Pepper followed the hostess to a table in the back of the restaurant in a private room. They were next to the windows that overlooked the beach down below. The last traces of sunlight shone through the clouds, creating a pink hue in the sky. "Wow," Pepper breathed. "It's beautiful."

Tony smiled as he watched Pepper gaze in admiration at the view.

After a minute a waiter came by to give them some bread and take their drink orders. And that's when the nerves set in.

"You like this restaurant, right?" Tony asked.

Pepper nodded and swallowed her bite of bread. "Yes, I do. It's very lovely."

"It has good zucchini."

Pepper's brow creased. "Zucchini?"

Tony tugged at his collar. "Yeah, wasn't there an Italian dish that you like that has zucchini… You know what, never mind. I don't know what I'm saying." He bounced his knee up and down, biting his lip to keep himself from babbling any more about vegetables.

Pepper looked genuinely concerned about him. "Tony, are you feeling okay?"

"Never better!" The sentence came off more enthusiastically than Tony had intended. He flashed Pepper a picture-perfect smile with the hopes of convincing her that everything was completely normal. Of course, that was far from the truth, but that's what he needed her to believe for right now. Though, she could usually read him like an opened book.

Pepper rolled her eyes, obviously not convinced. "Are you going to tell me what this is all about now?"`

"Trust me, you'll find out really soon."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief when Pepper didn't push the conversation any further. He reached for another piece of bread just as the waiter came by their table and refilled their wine glasses.

"Do you know what you would like to order tonight?" he asked them, taking out his pad and pen.

Pepper ordered gnocchi, and Tony tried not to stumble over his words as he ordered their famous lasagna. He felt like he was starting to sweat, and he couldn't get rid of the knot in the pit of his stomach.

_'Calm down, Stark. It's going to be alright,'_ he tried to convince himself.

By the time they were finished with their meals, it was already pretty dark out. Tony paid for the dinner and then stood up, taking Pepper's hand.

"Come on," he said.

Pepper looked slightly confused but followed him anyway. "Where are we going?"

Tony didn't answer her question and instead led her outside the restaurant, down the cobblestone stairs, and onto the beach. Pepper took off her heels and carried them in her hand by the straps, digging her toes into the soft sand. The night sky was illuminated with stars that shone down and reflected off the ocean waters. No one else was around; it was just the two of them walking hand-in-hand along the tranquil Pacific.

After a few minutes, they stopped walking.

"What are we doing out here, Tony?" Pepper asked quietly.

For a moment the only sound was the waves washing up onto the shore, until Tony finally worked up the courage to speak. "Pep, I've been doing a lot of thinking. _A lot_. And, I've realized something." Tony cleared his throat nervously. He took a deep breath and continued talking. "I love you, Pepper. You're the one person in my life who really knows me, you're the one person who I truly love. You're my best friend. And what I've realized is that I can't always protect you from everything in life, but I'd rather take chances with you than live a life without you. I'm taking a year off from SHIELD, and I'm cutting down on the Iron Man stuff for a while, so we can be together without, you know, worrying about each other all the time. So, uh, what I'm trying to say is… you mean the world to me, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Pepper's heart quickened. "Tony…?"

Tony knelt down on one knee in front of her and reached into his pocket. Pepper gasped and brought her hands up to her face.

"Virginia Potts…," Tony opened the small box in his hand and revealed a silver-banded ring with an exquisite diamond cut in the shape of his arc reactor on top. "…will you marry me?"

* * *

**A/N: Is this okay?**


	27. Epilogue

**A/N: Ok you guys I was seriously thinking about not putting this in here. Please please please tell me if you like it or if you think I should leave it out. Especially the last part. Thanks! Also HOLY CRAP IM DONE WITH THIS FIC WHAAAT?! I can't believe it's finished aahh. I give a big thank-you and a cookie to everyone who's reviewed/liked/followed/read my writing :) **

* * *

_Tony_

"You're gonna do great, Tony. Don't worry about it, just relax."

"Yeah. Relax. Okay."

Rhodey laughed. He'd never seen Tony so nervous – and it wasn't like he was about to face off with some freaky alien creatures; this was only a wedding.

"Just take a deep breath, and try not to blow anything up."

Tony turned to his friend. "Blow anything up? _Me?_ That would never happen."

"Really? Because I have this distinct memory of an explosion caused by you in my kitchen last week."

"Hey, I said I was sorry. And I don't even have anything flammable or combustible with me, so that won't be a problem."

Both of them were standing on the beach, out of sight of the guests that were starting to file in. White chairs were set up with gold and red banners on the back that read "Mr. and Mrs. Stark" on them. The altar was set up in front, decorated with white and purple flowers.

The wedding was going to be a small one (Pepper had insisted that it be simple, because she knew Tony's tendency to overdo things), with mostly family members and close friends attending. For Tony, that was a very small group of people. All he had besides Happy was Rhodey, and who had agreed to be his best man.

Today, April 4th, was a perfect day for the wedding. It was sunny but not too hot, and there was no wind to blow sand into everyone's faces. The air was crisp, and there were only a few clouds that hung in the sky.

As much as Rhodey tried to calm him down, Tony hadn't been able to sleep much last night. The thought of him making such a huge commitment to the woman of his dreams was enough to both fray his nerves and make him giddy with delight at the same time. The latter was an emotion he had never thought he would experience. Giddiness was not a word that most people used to describe Tony Stark. Yet that's exactly how he felt right now.

The bell tower near them chimed one o'clock, and the butterflies in Tony's stomach seemed to increase in number.

Rhodey clapped him on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile. "You ready?"

Tony inhaled deeply and nodded. He was ready to make the biggest promise of his life. He was ready to forever be with Pepper. He was ready for the blissful years they would spend together, and for the inevitable difficulties that were to come. He was ready for the laughs and for the tears, and he was looking forward to seeing how his life would change, and how it would stay the same. He never thought his life would lead to this, but it was a wonderful surprise that he was especially grateful for. As long as he had Pepper, he would be happy.

He was ready for a new beginning.

* * *

_Thor_

Loki's smug little smirk did nothing but fuel Thor's anger.

"You were behind this all along!"

"Of course I was. What's your point?" The God of Mischief was unfazed by his so-called brother's aggression.

"Why must you be so intent on destroying the Earth? What do you even hope to gain from all of this?"

Loki laughed, and the sound was chillingly haunting. "_Destroying_ the Earth?" he repeated. He stepped away from Thor, who had furiously approached him just a few moments ago, and walked out of reach. "You seem to not be grasping the concept at hand. I mean to _improve_ that world. Its inhabitants are so ignorant and petty. I would be doing them all a favor by making myself their ruler. I would –"

"Enough! You have no good intentions; you're only motivated by revenge and hatred and power. You bask in the enjoyment of killing others."

"Ah, yes. Like your Black Widow friend."

Loki took pleasure in the enraged expression he got from Thor as a response.

Thor could not express how saddened, how betrayed, how utterly hopeless he felt. All he wanted was for things to go back to the way they were. He wanted to be happy, and he wanted his brother to be happy. But there was no way to repeat the past. Those days of contentment were over. The Loki he once knew was gone forever, and though Thor tried, he knew that it was nearly impossible to find him again.

"You foiled my plans, Odinson. I'm quite disappointed by that."

"There was no way you would have won," Thor replied, returning to a calmer tone. "What you fail to see is that humans are smart, and they are powerful when they are determined enough. Even if your Exitium had succeeded in the battle, you would still never be able to rule over them."

Loki turned on his heel. "You're wrong," he hissed.

"You do know what's going to happen to you now," Thor said, "once our father finds out what you've done."

"He was never my father."

"All of _Asgard_ then."

Loki shrugged nonchalantly. "I supposed I'll be exiled."

There was a stretch of taut silence, in which both of them waited for the other to speak.

"There's another way," Thor finally said. "If you just promised to leave these harmful dreams behind and showed everyone that you have changed, then maybe –"

"No."

Loki quickly cut him off, but he felt himself hesitating. He could see the desperate plea in Thor's eyes, in his voice. And for a moment, he actually considered the possibility of a new life. But that was impractical; he was too far gone. The damage was already done, and there was no way to change that.

Thor growled in anger and frustration. "So that's it then?"

Loki shifted his blue-green eyes up so that they met Thor's. That same pang of regret and sadness hit him, but he ignored it. The pain had already been replaced with malice; there was no need to fret over it now.

"Oh, no. I have a feeling that this isn't over."

* * *

_Clint_

It had been exactly two months and three days since Natasha's death. Clint hadn't exactly meant to keep track like that, but it was impossible to forget. He found himself thinking about that day whenever he let his mind wander.

_'I let Natasha die yesterday…'_

_ 'I let Natasha die a week and three days ago…'_

_ 'I let Natasha die a month ago…'_

That moment was forever ingrained in his mind. When he closed his eyes, all he could see was Natasha's dead body, as if the image was etched into the insides of his eyelids.

Clint growled in frustration with himself and forcefully threw down the object that was in his hand. He wasn't even sure what he'd been holding, and he didn't care either. _'Oh, right. My bow.'_

He was sitting alone in SHIELD headquarters, up in his 'nest' where he usually sat. He liked that perch because it gave him a good view of the whole room from a distance. Everyone else who was usually bustling around on the floor had already left by now. The only source of light was the moonlight that shone through the windows.

With a heavy sigh, Clint stood up and started to head towards the ladder that would take him to ground level. He paused for a moment when he thought he heard a something, just a little whisper in the air, as if someone had moved beside him. He shook his head, dismissing it as a trick of his imagination, and continued walking.

"Hey, Clint."

Clint stopped breathing and froze in his tracks. That voice was unmistakable… but that was impossible! He slowly turned around, almost afraid of what he would see.

There she was, as plain as day. Her long red hair flowed around her shoulders, her soft eyes gazed into his. The moonlight illuminated her from behind and gave her an almost angelic appearance.

"Natasha?"

It felt like all the emotions in the world surged through him all at once. Elation, relief, betrayal, confusion, sadness, gratitude, love….

Natasha took a step towards him and pressed her full, soft lips to his thin, calloused ones cordially.

_'I'm dreaming,'_ he thought. No way in real life would Natasha just kiss him like that.

He must have actually said it out loud, because the woman in front of him then said, "No, you're not." She reached out and pinched his arm. "See. Not asleep."

Clint gaped at her, a million thoughts rushing through his head at once. She was alive. It made no sense, but she was alive. Her eyes were sparkling, her body was radiating warmth. She was full of color and vibrant energy, as if she had been in perfect health the entire time.

"How…" he breathed. It was the only word he could seem to say out loud at the moment.

Natasha smiled at him, and his heart did a backflip. He'd almost forgotten how beautiful her smile was. "Oh, Clint," she said. "It's a really, _really_ long story."

* * *

**A/N: Fun fact - RDJ and I share the same birthday, which is April 4th, so that's why I chose that date of their wedding :)**


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